Jen Chaney wrote a book called As If!: The Oral History of Clueless, as Told by Amy Heckerling, the Cast, and the Crew, and she gave
Vanity Fair excerpts from it. In one of the stories from the book that’s out next month, she revealed what other actresses were up for the iconic role.
Believe it or not, Alicia Silverstone was not the first choice for the role. Amy Heckerling wanted Alicia Witt, but Fox wanted her to explore all of the actresses. Some of those other actresses were Tiffani-Amber Theissen, Keri Rusell and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Angelina Jolie’s agent was pitching her hard to casting director, Carrie Frazier, but she knew she was wrong for the role. When Frazier got a script called Gia, she knew Mrs Brad Pitt was right for that role and thus launched her career.
Another person who was thought of for the role was Reese Witherspoon. Heckerling knew she was going to be a star, just not for her film because she wanted Witt to be her star.
So how did Silverstone get into the mix? Heckerling saw her in an Aerosmith video and thought she would be perfect for it. Frazier saw a movie called The Crush and thought that actress would be perfect for it. Frazier told Hecklerling to see the movie, but Amy was insistent she wanted the Aerosmith girl. Turns out they both were talking about the same person. Thus, Cher Horowitz was born.
I can’t imagine anyone other than Silverstone playing the role. After seeing who else was up for the role, I am glad we don’t have to imagine anyone else.
I wonder if any of those actresses are going to read the book and be like I could’ve be Clueless? How would their careers have turned out differently? I can’t even ponder that. Actually, it really hurts the head picturing Russell or Paltrow as Cher.
Who do you think is the biggest Monet on that list?
