Whether you finished high school a few years ago or a few decades ago, these flicks are flashbacks of adolescence. Take a walk down memory lane to your old locker with 41 facts you never knew about the classics you grew up with.
High School Movies Facts
41. One More Thing to Love
Upon reading the 10 Things I Hate About You script, Heath Ledger, who was at that point completely untested on American screens, simply asked to be cast as Patrick Verona (the lead) and was granted an audition based on his confidence and ambition.
40. Choices, Choices
Before meeting Ledger, producers for 10 Things I Hate About You were also looking at Ashton Kutcher and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the lead role.
39. Everything Happens for a Reason
At one point, Elvis Presley was offered a role in Grease, but he turned it down. Considering how much Danny Zuko resembles the King, we could totally seeing Presley fitting right in the flick.
38. Go Big or Go Home
Still, the production didn't exactly need the Tupelo Tornado: Grease was the highest-grossing film in 1978.
Grease cast reunion
37. You Never Forget Your First Time
The now cult classic American Pie originally opened to poor reviews, with critics calling it “…gross and tasteless”. Yet the film brought in $18,709,680 on its opening weekend, and we’re still talking about it today—8 films later.
American Pie, Universal Pictures
36. Life Just Wouldn’t be the Same
What would life be like if American Pie had gone with its original name, Great Falls? Yeah, that almost happened.
Luckily, test audiences resoundingly disliked the working title.
35. Anything for a Good Story
Fast Times at Ridgemont High was actually based on a non-fiction book of the same name. Screenwriter Cameron Crowe went undercover as a student at Clairemont High School in San Diego, California, taking on a fake name to gather inspiration for the book, to be published in 1981. In 1982, the book was turned into the film we know today.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High,Universal Pictures
34. The Real Thing
After just a brief chat prior to his scheduled audition went well, actor Sean Penn didn’t even end up auditioning for the role of Jeff Spicoli—he just naturally embodied the character.
Fast Times at Ridgemont High,Universal Pictures
33. Life Imitates Art
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion screenwriter Robin Schiff drew inspiration for the characters Romy and Michele from eavesdropping on a conversation between two real life women in a bathroom at a trendy club in LA.
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32. Phony Brand Endorsements
It takes a keen eye to catch this one, but director Quentin Tarantino’s fake brands, Big Kahuna Burger and Red Apple Cigarettes, make appearances in Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.
31. Small Town, Big Following
Napoleon Dynamite was filmed in small-town Preston, Idaho, and fans visit daily to take pictures of Dynamite’s house on what is now known as “Napoleon Dynamite Lane”.
Napoleon Dynamite, Paramount Pictures
30. There Are No Mistakes
Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder permed is hair the night before shooting began, which didn’t go exactly as planned: his hair had huge Shirley Temple curls.
A re-perm helped tame the curls into what the production wanted, but Heder wasn’t allowed to wash his hair for three weeks during production in order to keep the style. It was just as stinky as you'd expect, and apparently nearby flies were constantly attracted to his greasy mop.
Napoleon Dynamite, Paramount Pictures
29. Girl Power
Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight grossed $69.6 million in 2008. At the time, it was the biggest opening for a female director in movie history.
28. Written in the Stars
The day before landing the lead role of Edward Cullen in Twilight, Robert Pattinson was close to quitting his career as an actor because he wasn’t landing any work.
27. A Spellbinding Performance
The Craft director Andrew Fleming followed all the guidelines to attain a PG-13 rating for the movie, but due to its unusual blend of high school girls dabbling in witchcraft, the film was eventually rated R.
26. No Movie Magic Here
In one of the The Craft’s final scenes, over 3,000 snakes were brought in for effect–from pythons and boas to a 10-foot Amazon constrictor.
25. It’s Who You Know
Matthew McConaughey was cast for Dazed and Confused after running into casting director Don Phillips at a bar. They got along so well that Phillips invited McConaughey to the casting office the next day.
24. Method Acting With Mary Jane
Dazed and Confused makes liberal use of marijuana, and some of the cast admits to being under the influence in certain scenes near the end of production.
23. For Authenticity
While to the weed was (mostly) fake, actors who were of age snuck in and drank real beer on the set of Dazed and Confused.
22. Truth is Stranger Than Fiction
Dangerous Minds, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, was based on the autobiographical book My Posse Don't Do Homework by LouAnne Johnson.
Dangerous Minds, Buena Vista Pictures
21. Nothing to See Here
During the production of Dangerous Minds, Pfeiffer was pregnant and was outfitted in long skirts and bulky sweaters to conceal her bump.
Dangerous Minds, Buena Vista Pictures
20. A Legend in the Making
Specifically written for Dangerous Minds, Coolio’s "Gangsta’s Paradise" was a reworking of Stevie Wonder’s 1976 song "Pastime Paradise". The song won a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance.
19. It’s All About the Table Dance
Julia Stile’s inebriated tabletop dance performance in 10 Things I Hate About You actually landed her the leading role in Save the Last Dance.
10 Things I Hate About You, Touchstone Pictures
18. Private Dancer
Stiles did all of the hip hop and most of the ballet scenes on her own in Save the Last Dance, except for the pointe ballet, where she used a double.
Save the Last Dance,Paramount Pictures
17. Sleep When You’re Dead
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off was written by notoriously fast writer John Hughes in just under a week. Granted, Sixteen Candles was written in a weekend, so maybe Hughes was actually slacking off.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,Paramount Pictures
16. Less Than Impressed
The first cut of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off wasn’t well received by its cast or studio execs. As a result, Hughes and editor Paul Hirsch restitched the footage in two weeks to make the movie what it is today.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,Paramount Pictures
15. The House Party of the Century
Project X is based on the true story of Australian Corey Worthington’s legendary house party. After Worthington used MySpace to spread the word, around 500 people showed up to his house and caused over $20,000 worth of damage.
14. Fresh Hollywood Blood
Most of the Project X actors were inexperienced; they were first-timers who showed up for an open call.
13. Forever a Freshman
Easy A’s Emma Stone never actually attended high school—for long, anyway. She stopped after her first semester to pursue an acting career and took online high school classes instead.
12. Sexual Healing Needed Stat
On the second day into shooting Easy A, not knowing she had asthma, Stone had an attack while shooting a hilariously awkward fake sex scene. We're assuming the attack didn't make anything less awkward.
11. To Buffy or not to Buffy?
Joss Whedon is adamant that the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer is totally separate from the TV series of the same name, including any characters and events.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 20th Century Fox Television
10. A Good Start
Buffy the Vampire Slayer gave the then-17-year-old Hilary Swank (who played Buffy's bimbo friend) a big break, and Ben Affleck also plays a small role as a jock in the film.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer 20th Century Fox Television
9. A Bloody Mess
Carrie’s Sissy Spacek slept in the famous blood-stained prom dress for the three days it took to shoot the prom sequence. Why?
To maintain consistency of the stains (made from corn syrup and dye) during production. Director Brian de Palma said it made her smell "like gummy candy that had been sitting on a radiator".
8. The It-Girl
Clueless Director Amy Heckerling cast Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz after seeing Silverstone’s flirty and fun performance in “those Aerosmith videos”.
7. A Whole New Language
Heckerling invented colloquialisms specifically for Clueless, including the terms "Betty" and "Baldwin" (an attractive woman and an attractive man, respectively). A terminology booklet, titled How to Talk Cluelessly, was even created to help promote the film.
6. Walk, Walk Fashion Baby
Fashion doesn’t take a backseat in Clueless: Cher changes her outfit a total of 60 times throughout the film.
5. Playing Hardball
In the dodgeball scene in Billy Madison, Adam Sandler didn’t hold back when he unleashed the ball at the kids. The editor had to cut and modify the footage so their crying didn’t make it on film.
Billy Madison,Universal Pictures
4. You Are What You Are
Of all of Sandler’s quirky characters over his longstanding career, he says “Billy's [from Billy Madison] the closest I've come to playing myself”.
Billy Madison,Universal Pictures
3. Look the Part, Play the Part, Be the Part
To man her up for her cross-dressing role in She's the Man, director Andy Fickman took leading lady Amanda Bynes out to the mall to learn how to walk in a masculine way and to pick up male mannerisms.
2. Literary Connections
Both She's the Man and Clueless are adaptations of classic literature: She's the Man is based off of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and Clueless reworks Jane Austen's Emma.
1. You Never Know When You Might Need One
The famous scene in She’s the Man where Sebastian/Viola demonstrates an alternative way to use a tampon (to stem a nosebleed) was so well received that people sent in fan mail to share how they adopted the hack into their own lives!
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