Jamie Lee Curtis Reveals She Got 'Freaky Friday' Role Just 2 Days Before Filming Began

Just two days before the filming of ‘Freaky Friday’ began, Jamie Lee Curtis was added to the cast at the last minute.

 The 66-year-old Oscar winner disclosed at the Amazon Upfront in New York City that she was brought in as a last-minute substitute when another actor had to leave the movie.  She remembers learning on a Monday that she had been cast in the 2003 Disney blockbuster as Tess Coleman, a mother and high-strung psychologist who switches bodies with her adolescent daughter, played by Lindsay Lohan.

Jamie Lee Curtis was balancing family life at the time with two small children, ages five and ten.  She revealed that because of the impromptu casting, she had to switch between playing a 15-year-old stuck in her mother's body and a 45-year-old mother navigating adolescent turbulence.  Because of the quick turnaround, she said the experience was a blur and that she was juggling work and parenting like a circus act.

Image Courtesy: People

 Jamie Lee Curtis stressed that being on set was her top priority despite the hectic schedule, and the favourable reception the movie received from viewers after its premiere was a pleasant surprise.

The third movie to adapt Mary Rodgers' 1972 book was ‘Freaky Friday’.  The narrative centres on Tess and her daughter Anna, who undergo a miraculous body exchange brought on by enigmatic fortune cookies.  Viewers were moved by the film's poignant and humorous take on family dynamics, which made it a fan favourite.

 A 1976 adaptation starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, as well as a 1995 television film starring Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffmann, preceded the well-liked 2003 version.  In a musical adaptation that was broadcast on the Disney Channel in 2018, Heidi Blickenstaff and Cozi Zuehlsdorff starred.

Image Courtesy: IMDb

Now, more than 20 years later, Jamie Lee Curtis and Lohan will play their iconic parts again in the 8th August release of the sequel ‘Freakier Friday’.  Years after their original body swap, the new movie follows Tess and Anna, who are now mothers and soon-to-be stepmothers.  The mother-daughter pair finds itself exchanging lives once more as their blended families encounter unforeseen difficulties, demonstrating that lightning may strike twice.

Christina Vidal Mitchell, Chad Michael Murray,  Mark Harmon, and Lucille Soong are among the cast members who are returning.  Vanessa Bayer, Manny Jacinto, Julia Butters, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Sophia Hammons are among the new actors appearing in the follow-up.  Additionally scheduled to make a special appearance is Elaine Hendrix, who costarred with Lohan in ‘The Parent Trap’.

By fusing nostalgia with a new generation of magic and mayhem, ‘Freakier Friday’ promises to give a well-known story a new spin.

–Farheen Ali