'Clueless' Celebrates 20 Years

As if!! I feel old...

Two decades ago when I sat down to watch Clueless I was instantly captivated by the characters Cher (Alicia Silverstone) and Dionne (Stacey Dash). They were perfection. I am of the opinion that ALL teenage girls should watch this movie at least once. Not for educational purposes yet for a glimpse inside a world that most of us will never experience but have experienced in our own reality. If you know what I mean (they were rich).

In our teen years we all had those Cher and Dionne moments. We dabbled with make up, fashion ruled our world, run ins with our parents were frequent, sibling rivalries were epic, school was a blast, boyfriends and break ups were the norm among other tditzy things we felt were facts of life.The movie touched on so many topics/issues that most teens deal with while sensationalizing the lavish lifestyle of wealthy teens. The movie for me was like a coming of age in pop culture.

And in honor of this classic 90s film's 20-year anniversary I am going to list a few unknown facts about the movie courtesy of the film's writer and director Amy Heckerling who also has a book coming out, "As If: The Oral History Of Clueless as Told By Amy Heckerling and the Cast and Crew".

Scott Rudin saved Clueless from development doom.Fox had decided not to produce the movie, and things were looking grim until producer Scott Rudin signed on. “It became an important film the moment he signed on to produce it,” said coproducer and unit production manager Barry Berg.

Heckerling wanted Alicia Silverstone because of those Aerosmith videos.“I was watching an Aerosmith video of ‘Cryin,'” she said. “That was the first video she was in. And I just fell in love with her. Then my friend Carrie Frazier, who’s a casting director [and] who was [casting it] when we were doing it at Fox, said, ‘You have to see this girl in The Crush.’ And I was like, ‘No, I want the Aerosmith girl.’ Well, it was the same girl.”

Several other high-profile actresses were considered for the role.Not all of them necessarily auditioned, but Heckerling was also encouraged to consider Keri Russell, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie.

And Lauryn Hill was in the running for Dionne.But Stacey Dash was pretty confident. “I knew it was my role,” she said.

Alicia Silverstone had 63 costume changes.The set dressers tried to put some of the clothing she would actually wear in the film in the fancy dry cleaners-style closet at the beginning of the movie.

 Cher’s yellow plaid skirt ensemble was an original Jean Paul Gaultier.It was one of the few pieces costume director Mona May had the budget to splurge on.

Donald Faison’s braces were fake.“I had an extra tooth,” he said, “and they wanted to hide that because it kind of looked weird when I smiled. So they put braces on me.” 

 Cher’s last name was improvised by Wallace Shawn.Heckerling didn’t write a last name into the script, so when Shawn, as Mr. Hall, was handing out tardy slips in a scene, he ad-libbed “Horowitz.” If you look closely, you’ll see her report card reads “Cher Hamilton.”

 The extras making out in the pool at the Valley party ended up getting engaged.Heckerling and her assistant directors asked if two extras would volunteer to play a couple in the swimming pool. Two people said yes. “Years later,” she says, “I was walking down Melrose and I hear some people going, ‘Amy! Amy!’ And I turn around, and it was them. They met that night. They’re engaged…I don’t know how that marriage worked out, but it was really sweet.”

 Cher’s hair clip from the concert scene showed up in another teen movie.Lead hairstylist Nina Paskowitz kept the barrette Cher wore on a pegboard that she would bring to other shoots, and several years later, she ended up doing Amanda Bynes’ hair for She’s the Man. “I said [to Amanda], ‘You know, I put this clip in Alicia’s hair in Clueless.’ She’s like, ‘Oh my God, that’s my favorite movie.’ She started screaming. I said, ‘Would you like to wear it in the scene?’ And she almost had a heart attack she was so excited and honored.”

  Heckerling played Miss Geist’s bridesmaid at the wedding.“If I was going to get married,” said actress Twink Caplan, who was close friends with Heckerling, “Amy would have been my maid of honor. She edited most of herself out and she was shy, you know, to be on that side of the camera. But she did it for me and I loved it.”

I don't know about you but I will get my Clueless fix this July 19 in honor of the film's 20th anniversary.