There’s something about romantic movies that make us truly believe in the power of love. Between the perfect casting, a wonderfully adorable script, and scenic destinations—romantic films can make anyone believe in “true love.” But, as with all movies, there are tons of things that happen behind-the-scenes that make even the sappiest movies hilarious (and honestly, even better).
1. The director of The Notebook cast Ryan Gosling because he’s “not handsome.”
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Gosling said:
Cassavetes called me to meet him at his house. When I got there, he was standing in his backyard, and he looked at me and said, ‘I want you to play this role because you’re not like the other young actors out there in Hollywood. You’re not handsome, you’re not cool, you’re just a regular guy who looks a bit nuts.
2. Emma Stone had a breakdown when she had to film the “dirty dancing scene” in Crazy, Stupid, Love.
While filming the scene at Gosling’s house where Stone leaps into his arms a-la Dirty Dancing, the actress had a full-on meltdown. According to Stone, she suffered a freak accident while doing gymnastics as a kid and broke both of her arms. They ended up using a body double to film the actual scene. Crazy.
3. Alicia Silverstone actually didn’t know how to pronounce “Haitians” in Clueless.
Like her character, Silverstone had made the mistake IRL when trying to pronounce Haitians during her speech scene. Director Amy Heckerling told Entertainment Weekly:
The first day we shot the scene in debate class and Alicia said, ‘Hate-i-ans’ instead of ‘Haitians. Everybody started to run up to her to tell her she was wrong. I had to stop them. It’s SO much funnier the way she said it. That was Cher.
4. The director of When Harry Met Sally—Rob Reiner—showed Meg Ryan exactly how he wanted her to fake her orgasm…in front of his own mother.
Who can forget Ryan’s memorable f-orgasm in Katz’s Deli (side-note, I recreate the scene every time I’m knee-deep in a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s). Reiner told The Daily Beast he sat across the table from Billy Crystal and showed Ryan just what he wanted…and his mother had been there, too.
She did two or three [takes], and she did it kind of weakly…I think she was nervous about having to do it in front of the cast, crew, and everybody. And finally, I said, ‘Here, Meg—this is what I’m looking for.’ And I sat down opposite Billy and I acted it out. I pounded the table again and again going, ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ and when we were done, I turned to Billy and said, ‘Uh-oh, I just realized I had a huge orgasm in front of my mother!'”
5. Jason Segel actually went through the “naked breakup scene” from Forgetting Sarah Marshall in real life.
Everyone remembers the epic scene in the movie where Sarah dumps Jason’s character while he’s naked eating cereal (who can forget?!?) Turns out, it happened to Segel in real life.
That scene is autobiographical. I got broke-up with while naked in real life. My girlfriend had been out of town and she called me from the airport like, ‘Hey are you at home? I’m back, can I come over?’ And I thought, ‘Yeah, okay, I know what’s about to happen.’ So when she got there I was waiting for her like Burt Reynolds, and she said, ‘We need to talk.’ Then this break-up commences.
6. Melissa McCarthy based her character from Bridesmaids on none other than Guy Fieri, the mayor of Flavortown.
McCarthy said that when they asked her what she wanted, she got hella specific.
They [the costume team] were like, ‘What is it that you want?’ and I was like, ‘I want to dress like Guy Fieri. I tried to get this in the movie, but it didn’t make it in, but every time I took off my sunglasses, I’d put them on the back of my head.
7. The 40-Year-Old Virgin almost didn’t get made into a film because studios thought Steve Carell’s character seemed too much like a serial killer.
While it goes down as one of the funniest comedies ever, it almost didn’t get made. Carell said:
After the first week Universal pulled the plug. So we had to go in, we had only been shooting for five days, and they said ‘we’ve been watching footage and…you look like a serial killer,”We hadn’t shot any dialogue! It was me riding my bike with a weird helmet and me walking down the street and seeing suggestive posters. Just that week compiled they went ‘Oh no, this is NOT a comedy.’
8. During the filming of Love & Other Drugs, Anne Hathaway actually flashed the cast and crew by accident.
Hathaway told Hollywood Life that this particular scene always comes back to haunt her as one of the most embarrassing to film.
The scene where I have to remove my trench coat and be nude underneath. I thought we were filming, but it turned out we were just rehearsing and I got unnecessarily naked in front of a lot of people.
9. 10 Things I Hate About You’s film title was inspired by the co-writer Karen McCullah’s diary entry about a boyfriend she loathed.
I had a boyfriend named Anthony that I was frequently unhappy with. I made a list called ‘Things I Hate About Anthony.’ When Kirsten Smith and I decided to write this, I went through all of my high school diaries. When I told her about that list, she was like, ‘That’s our title.’ Anthony is very proud of that fact. We’re still friends today. Every now and then I’ll get a phone call in the middle of night: ‘My nephew doesn’t believe that this title is about me. Tell him.’ On the phone, I’m like, ‘Yes, I hated Anthony in high school.’
10. The director of No Strings Attached told Ashton Kutcher he was “taking too long to finish” while recording a sex scene.
According to Kutcher, the director had spoken to him about “finishing sooner.”
“Ivan [Reitman, the director] comes in and is like, ‘I think you need to orgasm sooner.” So you’re trying to, but your male machismo is like, ‘No, no, it would take me much longer than this!'”
11. Molly Ringwald wanted a completely different actor to play Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles.
Ringwald told Entertainment Weekly:
It was between two men — well, young men. It was Michael Shoeffling, who ended up being cast, and Viggo Mortensen, who had just moved from Denmark. t got to the Jake Ryan shot, and we had the kissing scene. Michael Shoeffling did not kiss me during the audition — and Viggo Mortensen did. He made me weak in the knees. Absolutely.
12. Rita Wilson made Tom Hanks see Nia Vardalos’ one-woman show, and he immediately wanted to produce My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Nobody would read [the script] and I didn’t have any representation, so I jumped on stage and started doing the material as a one-person show. I thought, ‘Well, the agents will come, and maybe I can play a bridesmaid. The next thing I know, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, who had just formed Playtone, came to the show. Tom called me after and said, ‘I’m gonna make your movie.
13. David O. Russell originally wanted to cast Zooey Deschanel and Vince Vaughn to play the lead characters in Silver Linings Playbook.
Although Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper landed the lead roles in the film, Russell originally didn’t have them in mind.
I wrote this script five years ago and I rewrote it 20 times. And I thought I was going to make it with Vince Vaughn and Zooey Deschanel before I made The Fighter. And then it didn’t happen, for any number of reasons that were out of my hands.”