Freddie Prinze Jr. says he struggled and “was in pain” on the set of his horror flick I know what you did last summer because the director of the movie treated him.
The actor talked about his time shooting the film in a recent interview TooFabwhich was tied into the actor’s new horror podcast, It was pretty scary. In the podcast, Prinze Jr. says he “almost quit the movie” and acting entirely after he had a near-death experience while filming the final scene on a speedboat. The actor claims that the people working on the film had “broken a bunch of union stuff that they shouldn’t have” and he was ready to get on the next flight because he “wasn’t wanted here” – a claim he clarifies in the film. to interview.
Prinze Jr. says that while his casting was supported by writer Kevin Williamson and the film’s studio, the director of the 1997 film, Jim Gillespie, was allegedly not a fan in part because he wanted another great ’90s actor to play Ray Bronson. Jennifer Love Hewitt’s character.
“It’s not that we weren’t on the same page, I knew what the right choices were for the character of Ray. He wanted another actor, a really good actor named Jeremy Sisto, who I know and like and respect a lot,” Prinze Jr. said, adding that Gillespie “didn’t make a big deal” about his feelings. “There was no passive aggressiveness — which I hate — he was very direct about ‘I don’t want you in this movie.'”
Although Prinze Jr. says he had the screenwriter and the studio on his side, Gillespie told the Scottish director in a 2017 interview. A digital spy that “no one” wanted the actor because “they thought he was too soft, he wasn’t muscular enough, so Freddie probably screen tested four or five times.”
“He got to the point where he said, ‘I’m done,’ and I had to really ask him to stick with it because I wanted him,” Gillespie added. “I thought he was going to be great with it. He went to the gym and worked out, changed his diet and cut his hair. I stuck to my guns and eventually they said ‘Yes.’
Although Gillespie has previously stated that he wanted Prinze Jr., the actor says he was devastated by his treatment at the hands of the director in one of his first major film roles. Prinze Jr. goes so far as to call Gillespie a “badass” who chose him, he says, leaving him “in pain” and making it “hard to quit work” every day. “I wanted to fight that guy two or three different times. One time I felt like I had a valid reason, and the other two I was just pissed off, which is not right,” Prinze Jr. admitted. “I’m glad everyone talked me down.”
Prinze Jr. claims that when he would come to rehearsals, the director would “get the rest of the cast together without me and give them all the notes.” Prinze Jr. also claimed that Gillespie gave him “psychotic notes like, ‘Don’t leave your mouth open. You look stupid when you do that'” — it was the exact note word for word, I’ll never forget it — and I’m like, I’m either going to fall apart or my gotta kick this guy’s ass.”
To help him navigate the events, he turned to his co-stars — Ryan Phillippe and his now-wife Sarah Michelle Gellar — to keep himself professional and in control of his emotions, which went beyond the alleged pickiness.
“Ryan came up to me and said, ‘Keep that guy, man. How many times did you audition for this movie? and I say, ‘Five times,’ he says, ‘Yeah, you deserved it. You weren’t offered a role, you earned it,” Prinze Jr. recalls. “He was the first person to tell me this.”
In the end, the actor attributed his treatment in part to the filming conditions. “I’m sure he’s a hero in somebody else’s story. I’m sure he helped somebody else and they loved him. But for me, he got a lot of frustration out of me,” says Prinze Jr. “He was a first-time director; he didn’t have much time; he didn’t have the budget he wanted; he didn’t have the actor he wanted, and he didn’t know how to deal with that frustration.”
During the experience, Prinze Jr. says it prepared him to meet other Hollywood personalities and opened up opportunities. “That movie launched my whole career. I wouldn’t have any of the things I have without that movie. I wouldn’t have my wife. I wouldn’t have all the other films I’ve done. I wouldn’t have this podcast,” he added.
Prinze Jr. also told the outlet that he had not received an official offer to return to the franchise for the new sequel when it was announced last month. (At the time, he and Hewitt were reportedly already star-struck.) He also questioned whether he would actually return to the show.
“I haven’t been offered anything, nothing. They just said that to get people excited. I haven’t spoken to anyone in their company, my agents haven’t received any offers from them,” he said. “I talked to the director for a few days after they announced that just to be like, “Yeah, what the hell?” Why are they saying I’m going to be in a movie I probably won’t be in? And he said, “Let me introduce you to an idea.” So he’s been talking to me about the idea, but I haven’t said yes, I haven’t been offered.”