Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Romantic Comedies Of The 2000s

Hugh Grant and Colin Firth fight on a London street over Bridget Jones. This scene is famous.

The director let the two actors fight in the climatic scene. This caused some unexpected fighting styles.

AsWriter Denise Martin stated:

No stunt coordinators. No complex choreography. Just a wimp brawl between two upper-middle-class Englishmen getting into a fight in front of a Greek restaurant.

One of the best lines inMy Big Fat Greek Wedding Nia Vardalos' mother actually said it.Vardalos, who starred in and wrote the film, said she wrote down things that happened to her while writing the screenplay.

Her real-life family had comedic gold. Vardalos said:

“Greek women, we might be lambs in the kitchen, but we're tigers in the bedroom,” my mother told me while we made chicken soup. I threw up. Then I wrote it down.

When filmmakers adapted Nick Hornby’s bookFever Pitch, they moved the plot from British soccer to American baseball. The team they focused on? The Boston Red Sox, which had an 86-year drought from winning the World Series.

The film originally ended with Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) running across the Red Sox outfield to find her love, Ben (Jimmy Fallon).

However, filming in 2004 changed everything: the Sox began winning. They reached the championship, and the writers had to change direction.

Afraid of jinxing the team, theproducers waited until 5:30 p.m. to send the actors, along with camera operators and producers, to their final game in St. Louis to film Ben and Lindsey in the crowd when the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series.

Few rom-coms of the 2000s were as empowering as the 2001 filmLegally Blonde. Audiences loved the quirky thinker Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) who enters Harvard Law School to (originally) chase a boy.

Elle is a dedicated sorority girl and wears the bright, high-fashion clothes fitting that image. Reese Witherspoon used this detail in the script effectively.

Witherspoon got a clause addedElle kept all the clothes she wore in the film because of her contract. She stores those clothes away safely; she wears few of Elle's pink items now.

Love ActuallyThis film became a classic holiday rom-com. It shows how different Christmases look by following close to a dozen different characters' holiday stories.

The film features one of the most controversial scenes in recent rom-com history—was Mark holding cue cards creepy or sweet? It also contains one of the most genuinely heartwarming moments. Shots open with people at Heathrow airport arrival gates greeting loved ones. Hugh Grant's voiceover states, “love is everywhere,” no matter how gloomy the world seems.

That scene feels real. People look genuinely overjoyed seeing their favorite people. It looks real because it...isreal.

Richard Curtis wrote and directed.The crew set up hidden cameras at the arrival gate for one week. A crew member got a waiver so they could use the footage in the film whenever a heartwarming exchange occurred.A crew member got a waiver so they could use the footage in the film whenever a heartwarming exchange happened.

This is the iconic girl-masquerading-as-her-twin-brother film.She's the ManAmanda Bynes plays the goofy protagonist who falls for her brother's roommate, Channing Tatum.

This was Tatum's breakout role in the film industry. Teens worldwide started falling for him after the movie released. Amanda Bynes said this did not happen.

AsBynes said:

I fought for Channing to get cast because he wasn't famous yet. He only did a Mountain Dew commercial. I thought, “This guy's a star—every girl will love him!” The producers said, “He's so much older than you all!” I replied, “It doesn't matter! Trust me!”

How to Lose a Guy in 10 DaysThis movie became a classic aughts rom-com because the main characters' goals clash.

Andie (Kate Hudson) wants to write an article on how to make her boyfriend break up with her. Ben (Matthew McConaughey) bets with friends he can make any woman fall in love with him.

When they see the other person won't back down, Andie and Ben create wild plans for their goals. For Andie, this means getting them a dog. McConaughey looks surprised in that scene because Hudson's kisses were unscripted.

In another scene,Andie throws a veggie platter at Ben and his friends while they play poker. No actor expected this, so their responses were genuine.The actors' responses to Andie throwing a veggie platter at Ben and his friends while they play poker were genuine.

Sometimes the director, Donald Petrie, only shared ideas with Hudson.Donald Petrie only shared ideas with Hudson.As he said:

I am a sneaky director. I would go to Kate and say, “OK, in this next take, don't tell Matthew, but do this.”

The 2008 rom-com27 DressesThis film included wild bridesmaid dresses, a love triangle, and maybe the pettiest (but most deserved) PowerPoint ever shown.

The film showed Jane (Katherine Heigl) and Kevin (James Marden) sitting at a bar. After drinking, they butchered Elton John's “Bennie and the Jets” lyrics. This led to them dancing on the bar and hooking up.

However, it turns out thatHeigl and Marsden had their own liquid courage.Marsden explained this to add to their performance.

That was the last scene we shot for Funny story about that.27 DressesIt was a night shoot, all night. Once that scene finished, the movie was done. Katherine and I thought, “Maybe we should have a tequila shot or two.” It made us comfortable.

Ella EnchantedElla Enchanted gave a new take on Cinderella. It puts the main character under a spell. She must do anything she hears. This includes a scene where Ella (Anne Hathaway) is told to “kick the butt” of a bad guy. She then gains the skill to deal serious damage.

To make this seem real,Hathaway trained with a kickboxing instructor for a month. She also trained with a professional mime for a couple of weeks to get the movements just right for another scene.She trained with a professional mime for a couple of weeks to get the movements just right for another scene.

InSweet Home AlabamaJake (Josh Lucas) parks his seaplane on the lake next to his home. This setting shows a picturesque, Southern home, which sharply contrasts with Melanie's New York, big-city life.

However, the lake they filmed on, Lake Peachtree, cannot have planes landing on it. Production learned this after they received a $300 fine for landing a plane on it.$300 fine for landing the planeon it.

At the start of13 Going on 30,We meet 13-year-old Jenna. She desperately wants to fit in with the cool girl group called the “Six Chicks.”

We only see this group of girls briefly, buttwo teen faces look familiar.One is Brie Larson (now an Oscar-winning actress and linchpin in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and the other is Ashley Benson (of futurefame).Pretty Little Liars

The film includes other famous faces, like Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer, and Andy Serkis.

When Jason Segal and Nick Stoller wrote the script forForgetting Sarah Marshall,they wrote a scene where Sarah Marshall's (Kristen Bell) new boyfriend (Russel Brand) and ex (Segal) mock a movie she starred in. They wanted the “dumbest concept for a movie,” so they chose a killer cell phone.

Segal and Stoller did not know that Bell had starred in a movie about a killer cell phone released the year before (Pulse,2006). When she read the scene, Bell thought they were mocking her work.Bell explained:

I looked at Nick and Jason and rolled my eyes. They asked, “What? Isn't that funny?” I replied, “You guys, I just don't want anyone to be offended. I don't want to mock something real.” They asked, “What are you talking about?”

The writing team assured Bell they had never heard of her movie. She finally agreed and let the joke stay.

If they were really mockingPulseI thought, “This is too close to home,” but I loved the simple fact they wrote it themselves. It is weird.