Trivia / Freaky Friday (2003)

• Actor-Shared Background: Rosalind Chao's father ran a Chinese restaurant as well, and she initially was about to turn down the role because she didn't want to do "the Chinese thing", but then remembered and decided to take the part to honour him.
• The Cast Showoff:
  • It's easy to assume that Annabel/Anna changed from a girl who plays sports to a girl who plays rock music just so Lindsay Lohan could perform two new songs (one at an audition at the House of Blues, and one during Tess' and Ryan's wedding reception).
  • Sort of for Christina Vidal, who was cast for her singing, as they knew her from Taina. However, she had more experience singing soulfully, and had to be taught to tone it down to fit the singer in a pop rock band.
• Completely Different Title: The Chinese name of the film translates to Hot Mom, Hot Daughter, which is quite appropriate.
• Dawson Casting: Chad Michael Murray and Christina Vidal were twenty-two playing high school students. Lindsay Lohan and Haley Hudson meanwhile were teenagers.
• Deleted Scenes:
  • A deleted scene included on the DVD shows Tess, in Anna's body, punching Stacy in her "new nose" after Stacy frames her for cheating. The director removed it out of concern that it was too dark for the movie.
  • Alternate endings also exist, containing Sequel Hooks for a movie in which Anna's brother and grandpa would switch bodies and the two would have to deal with being old/young. One ending had another earthquake hit the wedding after the two opened their fortune cookies, while the other just hard cut to the film's title and the credit sequence after the cookies were opened.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Jamie Lee Curtis dyed her hair red for the film.
• Edited for Syndication: The Wonderful World of Disney cut out the part where Jake sings "Baby One More Time" outside Tess' bedroom window, as well as Pei-Pei's mother trying to switch Harry and his grandpa.
• Enforced Method Acting: Jamie Lee Curtis has said that because she came on board so late, there was hardly any time for her to prepare. As a result, that helped her get into the unpredictability and spontaneity of being a fifteen-year-old.
• Fake Nationality: Downplayed. Rosalind Chao is Chinese-American, born in California, and Pei-Pei is implied to be a Chinese immigrant.
• Follow the Leader: After the Box Office success of The Princess Diaries, Freaky Friday was greenlit for another remake in the hopes that there was a market for mother-daughter movies.
• Friendship on the Set: Christina Vidal says that she, Lindsay Lohan and Haley Hudson became friends instantly.
• The Other Marty:
  • Annette Benning was cast as Tess originally but dropped out just before filming began.
  • Kelly Osborne was cast as Maddie but decided not to do a children's movie, getting replaced by Christina Vidal.
• Real-Life Relative:
  • Mark Waters's wife Dina plays the TV interviewer.
  • Lindsay Lohan's mother cameos in the wedding party at the end.
• Remake Cameo:
  • Marc McClure, the love interest in the original, cameos as a man delivering something to Anna-in-Tess. Both characters are named Boris.
  • Jodie Foster was offered the role of Tess, as she had played the daughter in the original. She turned it down. She later stated that while she liked the script, the main reason she turned it down was because she was concerned that casting stunt would overshadow the movie’s merit.
• Star-Making Role: Lindsay Lohan was known for her dual roles in The Parent Trap (1998) and the Disney Channel movie Get A Clue. But the success of this helped kick off her It Girl phase in the 2000s.
• Throw It In!:
  • Tess calling out "make good choices" to Anna was an ad-lib from Jamie Lee Curtis.
  • When Harry has underwear pulled over his head and runs into the door, Ryan Malgarini couldn't see and ran into the door, thinking it was open, and they left it in.
• Typecasting: Chad Michael Murray right in the middle of his teen heartthrob phase - from Dawson's Creek, One Tree Hill, A Cinderella Story.
• Wag the Director: Minor example. Jamie Lee Curtis recalls Mark Waters coming up to her after a couple of days' shooting and saying that the editor was worried her performance was "too big". She told him quite simply that she knew how she was going to play the role and that was how her performance was going to be - and it was up to him to steer her in the right direction and tweak her slightly, or else he'd be better off getting another actress.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Michelle Trachtenberg was the first choice for Anna, but she had to turn the film down due to her commitment to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
  • Annette Bening was originally cast as Tess, but she dropped out shortly before filming was to start. She later admitted Jamie Lee Curtis' performance was better than what she would have brought to the role.
  • Tom Selleck was cast as Ryan when Annette Bening was on board. When she dropped out, he did as well, having only signed on because he wanted to work with her. They then offered the role to Mark Harmon.
  • Anna was originally conceived as an aspiring journalist who writes for her school newspaper, and the House of Blues climax was written around her trying to interview Gwen Stefani. Mark Waters came up with the idea of making her a musician to better contrast her with the straight-laced Tess.
  • Spencer Breslin and Angus T Jones, who would later achieve fame as Jake on Two and a Half Men, were among the child actors who auditioned for Harry before Ryan Malgarini was cast.