Trivia / Election

• Author's Saving Throw: In the wake of the #MeToo movement and in response to initial reactions that criticized the supposed McAllister heroism and Flick villainy as overly black and white, Tom Perrotta wrote a sequel to his original novel (Tracy Flick Can't Win) which adds more texture to these interpretations. In it, Tracy explains the nuances of the consent issues with her relationship with her teacher and admits she might have been a victim. She also explains she was befuddled by McAllister's actions, which could be interpreted as her being more unaware of the harm caused to McAllister rather than an intentional effort to stop anyone in her way.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Reese Witherspoon originally wanted to play Tammy.
• Dawson Casting: Reese Witherspoon and Chris Klein were 23 and 20 respectively when they starred in this film. Averted with most of the extras and minor student roles as it was filmed on location at a real high school. This was parodied in American Dad! episode "Smooshed: A Love Story", where Witherspoon poses as a student at Steve Smith's high school in order to convince people that she can pass as a high schooler and make a sequel to this film.
• Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: A wheelchair-bound teenager plays the candidate who runs unopposed for student council Vice President, either because no one else cares about that position or no one has the heart to run against a disabled kid. On IMDB this is his only film credit, presumably he was a real high school student like all the extras in this film were.
• I Am Not Spock: This briefly happened with Reese Witherspoon, whose performance was so convincing that she had trouble getting work for a few years, since producers thought that her performance was indicative of her Real Life personality. She's since broken out of this typecasting.
• One-Book Author: Tammy Meltzer was the only major film role for Jessica Campbell, who retired from acting a few years later.
• The Other Marty: Thora Birch was originally cast as Tammy Metzler, but left filming in Omaha on her third day, because of creative differences with Alexander Payne.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Melissa Joan Hart auditioned for Tracy Flick.
  • Tim Roth was an early contender for Jim McAllister.
  • The director wanted more than anything else to edit the climax of the film In the Style of the final showdown from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. His editor, however, was willing to sacrifice part of his paycheck so that he wouldn't. Remnants of this can be heard in the movie’s soundtrack.
  • The film's original ending (which followed the novel) had Tracy seek out an apology from Jim, which he gives her. He then sees her working-class neighborhood which causes him to re-think his assessment of her, he happily signs her yearbook, and wishes her well. Test audiences hated it, leading to the darker ending used in the final cut.

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