Clueless: Alicia Silverstone Reveals Why Studios Rejected Classic Comedy Movie

Thirty years later, Clueless still serves as one of the funniest coming-of-age comedies. Based on Jane Austen’s Emma, a rich Beverly Hills teen believes she knows how to perform “good deeds” until she receives a dose of reality. Believe it or not, Alicia Silverstone got real on why studios initially rejected the comedy classic.

There are so many reasons why Clueless has reached pop culture status today. It introduced us to ’90s Valley Girl slang like “As If!” and “Whatever!” You can’t forget about the characters’ many plaid ensembles and what not to do when learning to drive a car.

Most importantly, the ’90s flick was the start of many up-and-coming stars’ careers, like Alicia Silverstone, Paul Rudd, Donald Faison, Breckin Meyer, and more. They would all go off to continue making names for themselves in many movies and TV shows that showed off their comedy chops.

Why did studios think Clueless wouldn’t be successful?

In Entertainment Weekly’s ’90s Issue, Alicia Silverstone revealed that studios originally didn’t think Clueless was a good idea, and here’s why:

“Amy [Heckerling] had to fight to get this made. All the studios said, ‘We’re not making a movie with a young girl as the lead. It’s going to fail.'”

Meanwhile, Clueless went on to gross $88 million on a $12 million budget and achieved further success in home video sales. It also followed a spinoff TV show, a book series, and is about to get the reboot TV series treatment for Peacock, with Silverstone reprising her iconic role.

Alicia Silverstone continued to say what she felt made Clueless the success that it is now:

“I really think that it’s magic in a bottle,” said Silverstone. “You don’t get that often, and none of us could have thought that that was going to happen. But I think it was the combination of Mona [May]’s costume design, Amy’s brilliant writing and directing, and I think that it’s funny and charming. And Jane Austen’s Emma isn’t too shabby either, as a starting off point. I think Amy really had her finger on the pulse, and had a beautiful way of capturing moments in time.”

It’s a good thing Paramount Pictures gave Clueless a chance, or we wouldn’t have one of the most quotable teen comedies of all time. You can watch the movie that started it all on Peacock, Netflix, and Paramount+.

Source: Comingsoon.net