Daphne Reynolds (AMANDA BYNES) has what every girl wants — or so it seems. This spirited young American girl has a unique style all her own, an unconventional but loving relationship with her bohemian mother Libby (KELLY PRESTON) and a future full of possibilities — but despite her remarkable promise, Daphne feels incomplete. She dreams of one day meeting the father she’s never known, the man Libby shared a whirlwind romance with seventeen years ago, but ultimately left behind because his aristocratic family found her unsuitable.
Determined to live out her fantasy of forging a storybook relationship with her long-absent dad, Daphne impulsively hops a flight to London, where she quickly discovers that her father is high profile politician Lord Henry Dashwood (COLIN FIRTH).
With the aid of Ian, a charming and society-savvy local musician (OLIVER JAMES), Daphne attempts to prove that love — and proper etiquette — can conquer all. But Daphne soon realizes she doesn’t like the person she’s becoming in the process. As much as she wants to be her father’s daughter, it’s not worth it if she can’t be herself.
After all, as Ian asks her, Why fit in when you were born to stand out?
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in Association with Gaylord Films, a Di Novi Pictures/Gerber Pictures Production, What A Girl Wants, starring AMANDA BYNES, COLIN FIRTH, KELLY PRESTON, EILEEN ATKINS, ANNA CHANCELLOR and JONATHAN PRYCE. Directed by DENNIE GORDON, the producers are DENISE DI NOVI, BILL GERBER and HUNT LOWRY. The screenplay is by JENNY BICKS and ELIZABETH CHANDLER. E.K. GAYLORD II, ALISON GREENSPAN and CASEY LA SCALA are the executive producers. ANDREW DUNN, B.S.C. is the director of photography; MICHAEL CARLIN is the production designer; CHARLES McCLELLAND is the editor; music is by RUPERT GREGSON-WILLIAMS.
What A Girl Wants will be released on April 4, 2003 by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Company.
What A Girl Wants has been rated PG by the MPAA for “mild language.”
www.whatagirlwantsmovie.com / AOL Keyword: What A Girl Wants
What A Girl Wants: About The Story
Inspired by the fairy tale charm of the 1958 Sandra Dee—Rex Harrison romantic comedy The Reluctant Debutante, producer Denise Di Novi developed What A Girl Wants, the coming-of-age story of a spirited young woman who dreams of forging a relationship with the father she’s never known. “I think every young girl dreams of finding her prince,” says Di Novi, producer of the inspirational romances A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle. “In What A Girl Wants, we have a girl who longs to make her fairy tale fantasy come true, but the prince she’s searching for is her father.”
The girl is Daphne Reynolds, a vibrantly independent seventeen year-old played by Amanda Bynes, star of the new WB comedy What I Like About You and the popular host of Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show. “Anyone who has kids is aware of Amanda Bynes,” says producer Bill Gerber, whose children watch The Amanda Show religiously. “She’s very bright and has incredible comedic timing. She was only fifteen when we first met with her about this project, and it’s rare to find someone of that age with such maturity and talent.”
“Amanda lights up any room she walks into,” adds producer Hunt Lowry, President and CEO of Gaylord Films/Pandora. “She’s a gifted physical comedienne who radiates the same irreverent charm that instantly endears Daphne to the audience.”
“Like Amanda, Daphne is a girl on the cusp of womanhood,” says director Dennie Gordon, who impressed the filmmakers with her skillful directorial work on the hit comedy TV series Ally McBeal. “She’s street smart without being the least bit jaded. She’s kept her innocence as a very real, accessible girl-next-door.”
Raised by her bohemian mother Libby in New York City, Daphne “fantasizes about what it would be like if her father was in her life,” Bynes explains. “She feels incomplete without knowing this important aspect of herself, especially at this crucial age, when she’s trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be.”
Although Daphne knows the story of her mother’s soulful romance with Henry, the dashing Englishman who broke her heart, Libby made a conscious decision to raise her without his knowledge or support. “Libby chose to raise Daphne as a single parent out of love and protection,” says Kelly Preston, a mother of two who imbues the vivacious Libby with her own infectious joie de vivre. “She didn’t want to introduce Daphne’s father into their lives because she mistakenly believes he turned his back on her nearly 20 years ago, and she doesn’t want him to do the same thing to Daphne.”
The catalyst that sparks Daphne’s decision to find her father occurs at a wedding that she and Libby, a wedding singer, are working in New Jersey. “Daphne has waitressed at countless weddings, and once again, she finds herself watching the traditional father-daughter dance and longing to live out that fantasy herself,” Bynes describes. “All these feelings inside her suddenly crystallize and she makes the very grown-up decision to go find her dad.”
Armed only with a photograph of her father and his name, Henry Dashwood, Daphne hops a flight to London determined to make her fantasy a reality. “She’s spontaneous and she doesn’t think about the consequences,” says Bynes. “I think it’s a sign of Daphne’s self-confidence and bravery that she knows what she wants and she goes for it.”
“We don’t want every teenage girl in America to think it’s okay to run away from home,” cautions Gordon. “But Libby respects Daphne’s decision. She’s not happy about it, but she understands her daughter’s need to know her father. Libby’s most loving gesture as a parent is the freedom she gives Daphne to chase her dream.”
“I think for kids growing up, the most important thing is knowing that your parents love you,” notes executive producer Alison Greenspan. “That love empowers you to have the inner strength to grow up and be confident in the person you are.”
Empowered by Libby’s love and support, Daphne braves the foreboding English rain, checks into a youth hostel and befriends Ian, played by Oliver James, a charming local musician who becomes her informal guide to London. With Ian’s help, Daphne soon discovers that her father is none other than Lord Henry Dashwood, a high-profile politician currently embroiled in a heated election.
“Henry is a good boy,” Colin Firth says of his aristocratic character. “The most scandalous thing he’s ever done is fall in love with Libby. Now, nearly 20 years later, he’s living out his father’s political dreams and he’s engaged to a woman he’s been advised to marry.”
Firth is best known to American audiences as stuffy solicitor Mark Darcy in the hit romantic comedy Bridget Jones’s Diary. As Di Novi observes, “Colin plays this reserved aristocrat so convincingly, but there’s great heart beating beneath the surface. He portrays so much through his eyes, through the slightest expression or gesture.”
“Colin is the master of restraint,” Gordon concurs. “His integrity and sex appeal bring added depth and texture to his character. He was my first and only choice to play Henry Dashwood.”
Determined to meet her father, Daphne tracks down the sprawling Dashwood estate, where she unceremoniously breaches the security of the gated compound. Her leap of faith promptly throws the Dashwood household into a tailspin. Not surprisingly, Henry is “utterly shocked when this seventeen year-old American girl shows up with a photo of him and says Hello, I’m your daughter,” Firth relates. “There’s an immediate assumption made by those around Henry that this is a ploy cooked up by his political rivals to ruin or blackmail him.”
But what Henry sees in Daphne instantly recalls Libby and the deep heartbreak he suffered over losing her. Like Libby, he has been living under a misconception for the past seventeen years — while Libby thinks that he abandoned her because she wasn’t good enough for him, Henry believes she left because she didn’t love him. In truth, the patrician Dashwood family deemed her unsuitable for marriage and banished her back to America, all without Henry’s knowledge.
“When Libby left him, Henry shut down,” Greenspan says. “He completely repressed his spirit and he’s living out dreams that belong to someone else.”
“He’s rather formal,” Firth says of Henry’s approach to sudden parenthood, “and he finds it very difficult to express himself as a father. He doesn’t have the language for it.”
“I think Glynnis is threatened by another woman coming into Henry’s life, especially his daughter,” Bynes observes. “She wants to marry Henry and make Clarissa the belle of the Dashwood ball.”
Daphne’s presence also spoils the carefully constructed social and political schemes plotted by Alastair Payne, Henry’s chief political advisor and business manager — and, conveniently enough, Glynnis’s father. Jonathan Pryce, one of Britain’s finest actors of stage and cinema, plays the cunning politico. “The last thing Payne needs in the middle of this election is a Dashwood love child showing up from across the pond,” says Pryce. “There is tremendous potential for this unpredictable American girl to cause extreme embarrassment and cost Henry the election — thereby costing Payne his power.”
Despite the risks, Henry welcomes Daphne into the Dashwood home. In an effort to fit into her father’s high-profile life, Daphne plunges into a whirlwind of debutante balls, tea parties and regattas — a daunting prospect for the slightly gauche young American. “She wants to win him over, so she decides she’d better put on the dress and the tiara and become a debutante,” Gordon reveals. “Meanwhile, Henry has to walk a very fine line between getting to know this girl and servicing his political campaign. He’s a sincere guy who is trying to do the right thing, but he’s deeply conflicted.”
Daphne too is torn. As Bynes sees it, “At first, Daphne’s taken aback by her father’s world, especially when she meets Glynnis and Clarissa. She feels like she doesn’t belong, like she’s interrupting their lives. She doesn’t want to be a part of it, but she recognizes that she’s going to have to adjust if she wants to know her father and be part of his life.”
Unfortunately, Daphne’s initial efforts to impress do little to boost her standing — or Henry’s. Not only does she dare to wear jeans to the Royal Fashion show, but the reluctant debutante literally brings down the house at a coming out party when she rocks out to a James Brown song performed by Ian’s band. “When Daphne crashes the high society scene, she truly turns that world upside down,” Gordon explains. “She says what she thinks, she does what she wants to do, she wears what she wants to wear. She doesn’t understand the artifice of high society etiquette. So she ruffles a lot of feathers.”
Wealth, status and social standing mean little to Daphne, but nothing is more important to her than getting to know Henry, so she enlists her ally Ian for moral support and a crash course in debutante behavior. “Ian is a really sincere guy who likes Daphne exactly the way she is,” Bynes says. “He’s not rich, but he works at all the high society events and he can teach her how to act in that environment. He shows her around London and makes her feel comfortable when she’s at a really uncomfortable time in her life.”
Native Brit Oliver James, who plays the dashing Ian, acted as Bynes’ intrepid London tour guide during their downtime. “She’s so lovely,” James says of his costar. “We really got on well, which was nice for us both. This was my first movie and she was over here from the States on her own. We had a great time working together and becoming friends.”
Gordon discovered film newcomer James during the London phase of the casting process. “We had a tall order to fill, because we needed a charismatic guy who could sing as well as act,” she recalls. “At Oliver’s audition, he sang a Red Hot Chili Peppers song a capella, with the voice of an angel. I thought, This is too good to be true; there’s no way this guy can act. Then we started reading a scene and he was amazing. I called everyone in Burbank, woke them up, and said Ian just walked through the door.”
Ian’s sincerity resonates in the question he puts to Daphne during the course of her debutante tutorial: Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out? But Daphne is determined to be the daughter she thinks Henry wants her to be.
As she attempts to prove to herself and her father that love — and proper etiquette — can conquer the time and circumstances that have separated them, Dashwood begins to open his heart to the daughter he never knew. “Daphne is the breath of fresh air Henry has needed for the past seventeen years,” Greenspan suggests. “Not only does she remind him of Libby, she reminds him of the person he was when he was with her.”
“One of the things I’ve always loved about this story is that the father learns something about life from his daughter,” says Di Novi. “Being a parent teaches you a lot, and this girl’s complete honesty and candor teach her father who he’s meant to be.”
Daphne’s first glimmer of the man her mother fell for so many years ago comes at a prestigious regatta, when she thwarts the advances of a hands-on admirer and causes a minor sensation among the scandalized bystanders. In a moment of spontaneity and instinctual rebellion, Henry commandeers Ian’s motorcycle, Daphne jumps on back and they make a roaring escape from the rabid paparazzi.
Firth’s experience handling the motorcycle for the sequence wasn’t quite as heroic, however. “I found that if you have one motorbike lesson, then don’t practice for a couple of weeks, you have about 10 minutes of thinking you’re rather brilliant before you fall off,” he divulges. “I went up a hill at high speed and then fell over at two miles an hour. I came back with bits falling off the bike.”
Their daring escapade strengthens the growing bond between father and daughter, but pressure from Payne and Glynnis for Henry to return to his proper self and uphold the obligations of the Dashwood name proves too great. “At a certain point,” says Firth, “the whole burden of duty and family legacy poses a serious threat to their happiness. Henry tells Daphne, If you are going to be a member of this family, there are sacrifices that have to be made. I have to make them. You have to make them. Basically, it means no more spontaneity. No more fun.”
Daphne straightens up, plays by the rules and stifles her vibrant personality — a sacrifice that severely dampens her spirits and her budding romance with Ian. Meanwhile, Libby rushes to London to rescue her daughter from the fate she had feared for herself so many years ago, only to find herself swept up in Daphne’s journey of self-discovery.
“Libby thought she left Henry behind her when she left England,” Preston says. “But when she sees the connection he and Daphne have made, and how much love he has for their daughter, it awakens these intense feelings that she never thought she’d experience again.”
“When Daphne sets out on this adventure, she not only finds her father and learns about herself, but she also rekindles this fantastic love affair between her parents,” Gordon observes. “And this family learns that life is full of second chances if you take them.”
Although Daphne’s journey began with the desire to know her father, her biggest discovery is herself. “Ultimately, Daphne figures out who she really is and that she’s happy with that person,” Bynes concludes. “She doesn’t need to change for her father. She doesn’t need to change for anyone. She’s great just the way she is.”
As Daphne realizes who she really is and what she really wants, Henry re-discovers an important part of himself that he has denied for too long. “He’s been largely suffocated by duty and formality, and it’s his relationship with his daughter that ultimately frees him from that,” Firth says.
“Henry goes from being very stiff and reserved to being more sensitive and communicative about his feelings and emotions,” Bynes reveals. “Daphne teaches him it’s okay to be loud and funny and inappropriate, if that’s who you are. Be true to yourself and follow your heart.”
When she finally lets go of her fantasy, Daphne discovers that reality is far better than the dream life she imagined for herself. “This movie reaffirms the timeless message that people should be who they are and not try to impress through fakery or in-authenticity,” Greenspan says.
This modern day fairy tale touches on some vital lessons in every child’s coming-of-age. “There are some very deep themes running through the romance, the comedy, the heartbreak and the happiness,” Di Novi believes. “The importance of a loving relationship between a father and daughter; the importance of a parent in a child’s life; and the importance of a parent’s willingness to make sacrifices in order to be a good parent.”
“Maybe it’s because I’m a father,” Bill Gerber muses, “but I’ve read the script and seen the film 100 times and I still get choked up at the end.”
Like Daphne, Bynes had a challenging and rewarding experience abroad. “I was ready at this point in my life to go on an adventure for myself and meet new people, but I never imagined it would be so much fun and so much work. I was tired at the end of the night!” she says with a laugh. “But I loved playing Daphne. We brought out the best in each other.”
What A Girl Wants: British Gems
“It’s a dream of many young Americans to go to Europe — it can be your first big adventure, if you’re lucky enough to go,” notes producer Denise Di Novi. “It was important that we film on location in England and not on a stage or somewhere that doesn’t truly have the magic that London holds for so many people.”
Hunt Lowry concurs. “England is absolutely a character in the picture, with its fabulous manor houses, the structural design of London and Parliament. We couldn’t have done this movie anywhere in the world but London.”
Director Dennie Gordon was so passionate and determined to make What A Girl Wants in England that before the film was even greenlit, she traveled to England on her own coin to woo Colin Firth and to snap hundreds of potential location photos.
Di Novi acknowledges with a laugh that the production itself took a coming-of age voyage. “In England, we Americans were the fishes out of water, so to speak. For example, we had to explain why we were homesick on Fourth of July. But there was a really nice give and take between the two worlds and our experiences underscored the truth that teenagers are teenagers anywhere you go.”
Director Dennie Gordon and company commenced principal photography on What A Girl Wants on June 5, 2002, outside one of Britain’s finest private homes, West Wycombe Park in Buckinghamshire, an hour’s drive from Central London.
In the course of the film’s nine-week schedule, London and its environs revealed hidden gems in a city full of surprises. Location managers Nicholas Daubeny and Robin Higgs, fresh from the rigors of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, flexed their expertise in selecting some of the prime sights of London and the Home Counties.
Principal among the locations was West Wycombe Park, which stood in for the Dashwood home (both interiors and exteriors). The lake provided a memorable scene between Ian and Daphne and the grounds also doubled as the site for two lavish weddings.
West Wycombe Park, a National Trust property, is open to the public — who were quite intrigued to find themselves in the middle of a film set! Sir Edward Dashwood and his wife Lady Lucinda and their young family still live at the Estate, and the family not only played host to the filmmakers, they also allowed the use of their name for the cinematic Dashwood family. “Dashwood” is a famous name in English heritage — a Dashwood ancestor started the Hellfire Club, a scandalous gentlemen’s club of the 19th century.
“Casting our Dashwood Estate was almost as difficult as casting any of the actors,” Gordon reveals. “It had to have a very specific ability to be foreboding and intimidating and massive — and then have the ability to warm up once Daphne has moved inside the house. We used the theme of Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone to inform our production design of the house. For example, when Daphne moves into the Dashwood Estate, the sky turns a brighter blue and the flowers bloom more brilliantly. This home is around 500 years old with this extraordinary color, this gorgeous gold and ochre that gave us an opportunity to let the house come to glorious sunshine life.”
Gordon credits director of photography Andrew Dunn with bringing the house — and her vision for Daphne’s journey — to life. “I hired Andrew because I love the way he tells stories with the camera,” she says. “His background, from Ever After to Sweet Home Alabama to Gosford Park, told me that he was the ideal cinematographer to shoot this movie.”
“Andrew was just fabulous,” executive producer Alison Greenspan adds. “He really imparted a beautiful, rich look to the film. As Daphne comes into the house, it’s infused with a light and an energy, and Andrew is the one who was able to bring that texture to the screen.”
Because much of the action in What A Girl Wants takes place during the London Social Season, the filmmakers emphasized lush and lavish locations. Few locations could be considered more lavish than the Painted Hall at the Royal Naval Academy of Greenwich, the setting for the Royal Fashion Show, the first society event Daphne attends.
The Royal Naval Academy at Greenwich is now part of the University of Greenwich campus, and in an earlier age, Henry VIII and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth were born at Greenwich Palace on the site of the Royal Naval Academy. The Painted Hall has been magnificently restored and is considered one of the grandest pieces of baroque painting by an English artist.
The Chapel at the Royal Naval Academy was used as a location for a political rally given by Henry Dashwood. The chapel, long associated with Britain’s seafaring legacy, bears the apt inscription: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
A singular breakthrough for the filmmakers occurred when they were granted permission to film a ball for four days in Lancaster House, currently used for high level Government entertaining and important international conferences. (Lancaster House is next door to Clarence House, the late Queen Mother’s London residence, now to become the London residence of His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales.) To secure permission to lens at the prestigious locale, Gordon had tea with the Vicar.
Several days were also spent on location at Royal Air Force Halton, once the weekend retreat of Lionel de Rothschild. Upon Lionel’s death, his son Alfred inherited Halton and from 1879-1883 built Halton House, one of the first houses to be built with electric light and to use central heating. In the basement there is the forerunner of the modern sauna — a plunge bath.
In addition, two very pleasant days were spent at Henley, by the river Thames, where the annual Henley Regatta is a prominent date on the social calendar of England.
In the East End of London, the What A Girl Wants production team gave a makeover to Borough Market, a bustling thoroughfare, which was transformed into a New York Chinatown street, complete with wrought iron fire escapes. A coffee shop became a Chinese restaurant — confusing a local resident on that particular Sunday morning when he arrived for his caffeine fix!
During the final week of the picture, a small unit including Colin Firth and Kelly Preston traveled by charter plane to Morocco to film for three days in and around Quarzazate on the edge of the Sahara.
What A Girl Wants: Costuming
Headed by designer Shay Cunliffe, the costume department was charged with gathering a considerable quantity of elegant clothes and accessories for the socialites who populate the posh occasions depicted in What A Girl Wants — and the jewels alone represent a king’s ransom of baubles and beads.
Cunliffe was able to create a seamlessly lavish look with the generous contributions of the prestigious jeweler Bulgari, who supplied several hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry to the costume designer — in fact, one necklace worn by Anna Chancellor is valued at nearly $100,000.
Armed with gorgeous garments procured from the finest dressmakers in London, Cunliffe dressed hundreds of extras for the many extravagant dances and events staged by the production. Many of these “extras” were in fact high-society socialites who imbued the glamorous couture with the proper mannerisms and attitudes required at such occasions. The ball that took place at Lancaster House featured a Guinness, a Rothschild and a neighbor of the Prince of Wales!
“As a costume designer, when I first read the script, I thought, These will be fabulous clothes to do!” Cunliffe discloses. “I was thrilled to be able to tell this story through the clothes. For example, in contrasting the American girl and this fantasy England, I cheated reality in that she is the only person allowed to wear blue jeans. I envisioned Daphne in a great, worn-out, dragging-on-the-ground pair of hip hugging jeans. But of course every young person the world over is wearing them these days, so I just had to decide, Not in my film they’re not! She alone is the one in sneakers and jeans with things dangling from them.”
Each major event was staged with its own special sartorial flavor. “With the Henley Regatta, we went overboard on the nautical, red, white and blue-themed outfits. We gave each of the gatherings a different tone,” reveals Cunliffe. “For the first ball, which is meant to be rather dull and a bit of a failure, we put everyone in vintage clothes. Daphne’s coming out ball was based on My Fair Lady, but a bit chicer, with a lot of white and black and silvery glitter.”
Cunliffe also incorporates subliminal tailor-made details to signal important characterizations. “Glynnis’s clothes are very constricting, similar to the vice grip it seems she has on Dashwood. She wears big gold collars, and with the final ball gown, she wears a great collar of pearls. Her daughter Clarissa’s gowns have a rather aggressive bodice to match her attitude, and all her friends have bodices that are sort of like little teeth, in my mind.”
What A Girl Wants: Music
Music plays a huge part in What A Girl Wants, and the film’s music is a lively mix of both contemporary and familiar songs. “There was a very extensive pre-record for the film because there’s a lot of performing in the movie, with Oliver as well as Kelly Preston,” says producer Bill Gerber, describing the process by which tracks are recorded prior to shooting, then used as playback during the performance scenes for lip-synching purposes. “The background of the film is very musical.”
“Designing a soundtrack for this movie was a real challenge, because it’s a story for all ages,” reveals director Dennie Gordon. “We created a blend of current hits from The Donnas to Craig David, rock and roll classics like The Clash and old school make-out music like Frank Sinatra. It was a very tricky selection process, but we ultimately narrowed it down to fifteen source songs, seven songs that are performed in the film, and 37 pieces of beautiful score from my composer, Rupert Gregson-Williams.”
Actress Kelly Preston, who has never before sung in public, makes her debut with covers of the popular songs “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” “Shout!” and the Celine Dion hit, “Because You Love Me.”
“I didn’t realize that I was going to sing in this film, but when they asked me, I said, Well, I’ll give it a try!,” Preston enthuses. “It was a lot of fun. In the recording studio and in the dance studio, it was much more rewarding than I ever expected.”
“What Kelly has delivered as a singer is something that we never imagined,” director Dennie Gordon says. “We thought we’d have to get someone to dub in her vocals. But Kelly trained like a trooper and did all of her own singing. She was in the studio day and night rehearsing and her tracks are spectacular.”
“We recorded several songs for Ian’s and Libby’s bands to perform in the movie,” says Gerber. “Covers of ‘What a Wonderful World’ and ‘Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,’ as well as some wonderful original compositions. Our music supervisor, Debra Baum, was in London working with the English musicians and producers very early in the production process. She’s been invaluable.”
Professional singer and film newcomer Oliver James sings several songs in the film. “I can go on and on about Oliver James. He’s a true talent and a huge star in the making,” says Baum, who was impressed by James’ dedication to detail. “He hadn’t played guitar, so he needed to try and learn some guitar chords because the visual authenticity was really important to him.
“We only had Oliver for a couple of days, during which time he had to learn his lines, learn to ride a motorcycle and learn five songs, including some really difficult classics,” Baum continues. “He was literally in the studio for only two hours and he recorded all five songs, all of which are used for his on-camera performances. He not only did a great job on the current and original songs, but he was also truly amazing at covering Frank Sinatra, Louie Armstrong and James Brown classics. On every level, he’s delivered big time.”
James approached one of the songs he was slated to perform with a bit of trepidation. “At one point in the film, Daphne and Ian decide to liven up a very boring party by surprising the crowd with a James Brown number called ‘Get Up Offa That Thing,’” James relates. “Now, this song hasn’t been covered since James Brown sang it, so there was no pressure or anything.”
Two of the songs James recorded for the film, “Long Time Coming” and “Greatest Story Ever Told,” appear on the What A Girl Wants soundtrack, along with “London Calling” by the Clash, Craig David’s “What’s Your Flava,” Meredith Brooks’ “Crazy,” and “Half Life,” by Duncan Sheik.
ABOUT THE CAST
Born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California, AMANDA BYNES (Daphne Reynolds) began her career at a comedy camp. As she continued to work on her craft, it was at a showcase performance in Los Angeles that producer Brian Robbins discovered her and added Bynes to the cast of Nickelodeon’s All That. After just one season, she was nominated for a 1997 CableAce Award, putting her in the company of such established actresses as Tracey Ullman and Janeane Garofalo.
Known for her unique style of bold, no-holds-barred physical comedy, Bynes has risen to the top of the Nickelodeon series and remained on All That for four seasons. By the age of 12, Bynes became the youngest performer to host her own variety sketch show, The Amanda Show, which has earned her the Favorite Television Actress honor three years in a row from Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards.
In addition, Bynes hosted Nickelodeon’s Nickelennium millennium celebration, The Big Help and Kid’s Choice Awards, and was nominated for The Hollywood Reporter’s Young Star Award in the category of Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy Television Series.
Working steadily since the age of 10, Bynes recently charmed audiences in the hit comedy Big Fat Liar opposite Frankie Muniz.
Bynes, who currently resides in Southern California, spends her free time drawing, painting and writing.
He will next be seen starring in the Disney film Hope Springs with Heather Graham and Minnie Driver. He has recently completed production on the Universal film Love Actually with Hugh Grant and Laura Linney, as well as the independent film Girl With A Pearl Earring, opposite Tom Wilkinson and Scarlett Johansson.
He was recently seen starring opposite Rupert Everett and Reese Witherspoon in the Miramax Film, The Importance of Being Earnest. In 1998, Firth starred in Shakespeare in Love, where he played Lord Wessex, the evil husband to Gwyenth Paltrow’s character. In 1997, he starred in A Thousand Acres, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange, and in 1996, The English Patient, opposite Kristen Scott Thomas and Ralph Fiennes. His other film credits include Relative Values, My Life So Far, The Secret Laughter of Women, Fever Pitch, Circle of Friends, Playmaker, and the title role in Valmont.
In 1989, he received the Royal Television Society Best Actor Award as well as a BAFTA nomination for his work in the TV production Tumbledown. Firth’s other work on television includes roles in the films Conspiracy, Windmills on the Clyde: Making Donovan Quick, Donovan Quick, The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd, Deep Blue Sea, Hostages, and the mini-series Nostromo. His London stage debut was in the West End production of Another Country playing Benett. He was then chosen to play the character Judd in the 1984 film adaptation.
Colin Firth resides in London, England with his wife and young son.
A talented and captivating performer, KELLY PRESTON (Libby Reynolds) has performed in a broad range of motion pictures, portraying roles in such diverse films as Jerry Maguire, Citizen Ruth and Twins. Her dynamic and compelling performances have proven her to be one of the most sought-after actors of our generation.
Recently, Preston finished production on The Cat in the Hat, based on the famous children’s fable by Dr. Seuss, starring opposite Mike Myers and Alec Baldwin and under the direction of Bo Welch. She can currently be seen starring opposite Gwyneth Paltrow and Christina Applegate in A View from the Top directed by Bruno Barreto.
Upon graduating from high school, Preston relocated to Los Angeles and enrolled in the University of Southern California where she studied drama and theatre. She ultimately transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles and decided to commit to pursue acting seriously. She would soon win her very first audition.
Preston was born and raised in Hawaii. As a result of her father’s position with an agricultural firm, the family moved first to Iraq for one year and then to Australia for two years. It was while she was a teenager in Hawaii that Preston appeared in television commercials and began to develop an interest in an acting career.
She made her feature film debut with a well-received role in the hit motion picture Twins, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. Her additional film credits include Only You, Run, The Perfect Bride, The Experts, Spellbinder, Space Camp, 52 Pick-Up, Secret Admirer and Mischief. Ms. Preston also starred in the Academy Award-nominated short, Little Surprises directed by Jeff Goldblum.
Preston appeared to rave reviews opposite Tom Cruise in the number one box office smash hit Jerry Maguire. The Tri-Star picture was written and directed by Cameron Crowe. She was also seen in a pivotal role in the critically acclaimed motion picture Citizen Ruth for Miramax. In addition, she starred in the hit feature film Addicted to Love co-starring Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick and was seen in the comedy Nothing to Lose opposite Tim Robbins and Martin Lawrence.
Preston also starred in the feature film comedy The Holy Man, with Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum; Jack Frost, opposite Michael Keaton for Warner Bros. Pictures; Daddy and Them, directed by Billy Bob Thornton; and starred opposite Kevin Costner in the Universal picture For the Love of the Game for director Sam Raimi.
EILEEN ATKINS (Lady Jocelyn), one of England’s foremost theatrical dames, has experienced a gratifying upsurge of interest for both her acting and literary efforts in recent years — currently she is juggling non-stop acting work (Gosford Park, The Hours, Cold Mountain) with a new script writing assignment for Liv Ullmann.
From the age of seven, Atkins was entertaining in working men’s clubs and later she won a place at the Guildhall School of Speech and Drama. Over the years she has amassed a vast range of credits in both classical and contemporary repertoire.
With Jean Marsh, she co-created the very successful Upstairs Downstairs and The House of Elliott. More recently she adapted Mrs. Dalloway, which her husband Bill Shepherd produced. She also wrote Vita and Virginia about Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West, based on their correspondence. She performed this two-hander with Penelope Wilton in the West End of London and with Vanessa Redgrave in New York.
Recently, Atkins joined the all-star cast of Robert Altman’s Gosford Park and was seen in Stephen Daldry’s version of The Hours with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore. Atkins has also filmed Cold Mountain for Anthony Minghella. She is now at The National Theatre in a new play directed by Roger Michell called Honour.
ANNA CHANCELLOR (Glynnis) works successfully in television and theatre as well as cinema. While appearing at The National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and on Broadway, she’s best known for some of her television roles: alongside John Thaw in Kavanagh QC, Albert Finney in Karaoke, and the last screenplay written by Dennis Potter, Cold Lazarus.
Chancellor often plays villains, such as Miss Bingley in the BBC’s Pride and Prejudice and Diana Leatherby in Tipping the Velvet, as well as in cinema playing Molly in Crush alongside Andie MacDowell.
Perhaps her most memorable performance was as “Duckface” in the huge hit Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Recently she enjoyed considerable success in Boston Marriage by David Mamet at London’s prestigious Donmar Warehouse with Zoe Wanamaker.
A subtle, incisive actor, JONATHAN PRYCE (Alastair Payne) has long been a dominant player both on the stage and on the screen. On the stage, he has played musical comedy as well as dramatic roles to considerable effect. He originated the role of The Engineer in Miss Saigon and was recently a celebrated Professor Higgins in the Royal National Theatre production of My Fair Lady, directed by Trevor Nunn.
Jonathan Pryce studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company where he played Macbeth and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.
In films, recent successes include Juan Peron in Alan Parker’s film Evita, starring Madonna in the title role; as Elliott Carver, the principal villain in the Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies; and as Dr. William Rivers in Regeneration, from Pat Barker’s novel about the First World War, for which he was nominated for Best Actor by the British Independent Film Awards.
His early film credits include Voyage of the Damned, The Ploughman’s Lunch and Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was Terry Gilliam’s nightmare comedy Brazil in 1985 that made Pryce a household name.
Pryce also appeared in Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen and was Al Pacino’s potential client in Glengarry Glen Ross. Martin Scorsese cast him in The Age of Innocence and he played Lytton Strachey in Carrington, written and directed by Christopher Hampton, which won him the Best Actor award at Cannes Film Festival and The Evening Standard Award for Best Actor.
On Broadway, he won Tony awards for Comedians (1977) and Miss Saigon (1990), and in London the Olivier Award for his Hamlet and again for Miss Saigon, and garnered an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Barbarians at the Gate. In 2002, BAFTA Wales awarded him with a Special Award.
Next, Pryce will be seen opposite Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly in the highly anticipated The Pirates of the Caribbean.
OLIVER JAMES (Ian Wallace) makes his film debut in What A Girl Wants. In addition to his charismatic performance opposite Amanda Bynes, Oliver is a musician and his songs are featured in the film. Of the five songs he has in the movie, Oliver can be heard singing James Browns “Get Up Offa That Thing” with his own unique touch.
Although this is Oliver’s first feature film, he is no stranger to the craft. Having graduated at England’s prestigious Guildford School of Acting, he proceeded to work in theatre and television before this exciting opportunity was presented to him.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS
Enigmatic and surprising, from the highly varied background of international documentary filmmaking, Yale Drama School and Adam Sandler-produced comedies, DENNIE GORDON (Director) is one of the most versatile directors in Hollywood. Known for her craftsmanship as well as her cajones, Gordon is a writer and director who “looks for the funny in everything.” Gordon believes that films, like life, should encompass elements of comedy, drama and, of course, the wildly absurd.
Dennie Gordon both developed and directed What A Girl Wants. This romantic fairytale follows a spirited New Yorker (Amanda Bynes) on her trek to London to find aristocrat Henry Dashwood, the father she has never known (Colin Firth). The film also stars Kelly Preston, Jonathan Pryce and Dame Eileen Atkins. The film was shot in the private palaces of England, including the exclusive St. James Palace, as well as on the northern edge of the Sahara desert in Morocco.
Gordon first gained recognition when her script for A Hard Rain was chosen for production from over one thousand entries in the esteemed “Discovery Program.”
Thanks to Steven Spielberg, a rough cut of her film attracted the attention of George Lucas, who donated more than $75,000 of labor and equipment to complete the film’s sound mix at Skywalker Ranch.
A Hard Rain went on to win dramatic awards at the British Short Film Festival and the Hamptons Film Festival.
A Hard Rain also caught the eye of David E. Kelley, who enlisted Gordon to helm many episodes of his television series. Gordon became a full time director for Kelley, directing episodes of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice and Ally McBeal. Gordon also directed episodes of such critically acclaimed series as Sports Night, Party of Five, Grounded for Life and Tracey Takes On. Gordon won a prestigious DGA Award in Comedy for Tracey Takes On. Performances directed by Gordon have garnered a total of eight Emmy Award wins for her actors.
Gordon has also directed a number of television pilots, including Kevin Williamson’s Glory Days and Conan O’Brien’s Beat Cops.
Gordon made her first leap into multiplexes with The Adventures of Joe Dirt, starring David Spade. Released by Sony in the spring of 2000, the cult classic comedy has made over sixty million dollars worldwide and is still climbing.
Gordon is represented by the Endeavor agency and attorney David Colden.
DENISE DI NOVI (Producer) is considered one of Hollywood’s top producers and has been instrumental in bringing to the screen the work of several of today’s most imaginative filmmakers. She counts among her producing credits such diverse motion pictures as Heathers and Little Women, as well as a number of films during her producing association with Tim Burton, including Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood and James and the Giant Peach.
Her recent releases Practical Magic and Message in a Bottle both opened in first place at the box office and other hits for Di Novi include A Walk to Remember, starring Mandy Moore, and Original Sin, starring Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie.
Di Novi began her career in journalism, rising from copy editor at the National Observer (a Dow Jones weekly) to staff writer for Canada AM in Toronto. Her writing skills and extensive media experience prompted her segue into the film industry, where she began as a unit publicist. In 1980, she became a principal in the Montreal-based production company Film Plan, acting in various production capacities on nine major studio releases, including Scanners and Videodrome. In 1983, Film Plan relocated to Los Angeles and merged with Arnold Kopelson’s Film Packages.
Di Novi then joined New World Pictures as executive vice president of production, later shifting into an overall deal as an independent producer. From 1989-1992, she headed Tim Burton Productions, during which time she was responsible for producing several of the director’s most successful films. In 1993, she set up her own production company, Di Novi Pictures, at Columbia Pictures and produced Little Women. Today she has a production deal at Warner Bros. Pictures with several films in development.
Educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz, BILL GERBER (Producer) started his entertainment career in the music business. After promoting concerts, working at A&M and Nemporer/CBS Records, Gerber became a partner at Lookout Management where he represented The Cars and Devo. In 1984, Gerber began his producing career with projects at Warner Bros. Pictures and Paramount Pictures and, in 1985, formed Gerber/Rodkin, a management production company that represented Judd Nelson, Robert Downey Jr., Billy Zane, Sara Jessica Parker and Dan Hartman. In 1986, Gerber left his firm to join Warner Bros. Pictures as Vice President of Theatrical Production. He remained there for 12 years and was subsequently promoted to President of Worldwide Theatrical Production in 1996.
While at Warner Bros. Pictures, Gerber supervised the films L.A. Confidential, Unforgiven, Twister, Selena, GoodFellas, Heat, JFK, Disclosure, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, You’ve Got Mail and Analyze This as well as developing The Perfect Storm and Space Cowboys.
In May of 1998, Gerber ventured out to form his own production company, Gerber Pictures. Since then, he has produced Morgan Creek’s Juwanna Mann and American Outlaws and executive produced the TNT original film James Dean and Warner Bros. Pictures’ Queen of the Damned and Get Carter.
Gerber has also produced the upcoming films The In-Laws, starring Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks, and the skateboarding comedy adventure Grind.
HUNT LOWRY (Producer), with his partner E.K. Gaylord II, recently structured a long-term co-financing and production deal with Warner Bros. Pictures for Gaylord Films and its specialty film division, Pandora. Gaylord Films and Pandora currently have a number of motion pictures in production, post-production and development.
Previously, he was an executive producer on the critically acclaimed feature Donnie Darko, which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for its Grand Jury Prize.
Among Lowry’s additional producing credits are Disney’s The Kid, starring Bruce Willis; the thriller Instinct, starring Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding Jr.; Joel Schumacher’s A Time to Kill, starring Sandra Bullock; the epic period romance First Knight, starring Sean Connery and Richard Gere; My Life, starring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman; Striking Distance, starring Bruce Willis; the award-winning The Last of the Mohicans, starring Daniel Day-Lewis; the Chris Columbus comedy Only the Lonely; Career Opportunities; Get Crazy and Top Secret!. For television, he produced the miniseries Dream West, Surviving: A Family in Crisis, and was executive producer on Rascals and Robbers: The Secret Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
Most recently, Lowry produced Blue Collar Comedy Tour: the Movie, starring comedians Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy, as well as the upcoming skateboarding comedy adventure, Grind.
JENNY BICKS (Screenplay) has written on numerous television shows including Seinfeld and Dawson’s Creek. She is best known for her work as writer/producer on Sex and the City, for which she has earned two Golden Globes and an Emmy.
Jenny joined Sex and the City as a supervising producer during its first season and went on to work on all the subsequent seasons, writing over ten episodes of the series, including the Writer’s Guild-nominated “Four Women and a Funeral.” This year, the show’s last season, Jenny will be an Executive Producer. Her producing work on Sex earned her a Producer of the Year award from the Producers Guild.
Last year Jenny created and executive produced Leap of Faith, a single-camera half hour comedy that aired on NBC after Friends.
Jenny has also done significant work in film. In addition to writing What A Girl Wants, she adapted Meg Cabot’s (The Princess Diaries) most recent book, All American Girl, for Disney. She is also currently adapting the best-selling The Nanny Diaries for Miramax Films. Jenny has also done numerous re-writes on films including View From The Top, Serendipity, Josie and the Pussycats and Never Been Kissed.
Her humor essays have appeared in LA Magazine and “Life’s a Stitch,” a compendium of humor from Random House. Additionally, she once wrote jokes for President Clinton.
Jenny is a born and bred New Yorker who now lives in Los Angeles.
ELIZABETH CHANDLER’s (Screenplay) screenwriting credits include the HBO feature film Afterburn, Warner Bros. Pictures’ A Little Princess and the Ashley Judd-Hugh Jackman romantic comedy Someone Like You. Her most recent project, Eloise At Christmastime, which she wrote and co-produced, is currently in post-production.
E.K. GAYLORD II (Executive Producer) is Chairman of Gaylord Films and is on the Board of Directors of Gaylord Entertainment Company and the Oklahoma Publishing Company. Additionally, he is a Director of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center and is on the Board of the National Arthritis Foundation.
A man of diverse and far-ranging interests, Gaylord owns and operates the Lazy E Ranch, Arena and Training Center near Guthrie, Oklahoma, as well as Gaillardia Farms in Lexington, Kentucky, and the Gaillardia Ranch in Kendall County, Texas. He is on the Breeder’s Cup Board and is very active in the thoroughbred industry. He is also involved with Children’s Hospital, Children’s Medical Research, the Leukemia Society, the Arthritis Foundation and the United Way.
Edward King Gaylord II is a graduate of Casady School and Texas Christian University. The son of Edward L. and Thelma Gaylord, he currently lives with his wife Natalie and three sons in Edmond, Oklahoma.
ALISON GREENSPAN (Executive Producer), in her capacity as President of Development for Di Novi Pictures, developed and helped oversee the London production of What A Girl Wants. Greenspan also helped develop the inspirational romance A Walk to Remember and is currently working on the upcoming feature films Catwoman and New York Minute, starring Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Greenspan began her career at CAA and also spent two and a half years as a creative executive at ImageMovers, Robert Zemeckis’ and Jack Rapke’s production company. Greenspan joined Di Novi Pictures in 1999 as Vice President of Development.
CASEY LA SCALA (Executive Producer) is currently producing the skateboarding road-trip comedy feature Grind, which marks his directorial debut, scheduled for a 2003 release. He will also produce the thriller Tempting Pandora.
La Scala recently served as executive producer on the ensemble heist comedy Welcome to Collinwood and the inspirational love story A Walk to Remember, starring Mandy Moore and Shane West, for Warner Bros. Pictures, as well as the critically acclaimed Donnie Darko, which premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the festival’s Grand Jury Prize. He was a producer on the sci-fi action thriller Cypher for Miramax, starring Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu and the recently released comedy Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie, starring Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy.
While an executive at Touchstone Pictures, La Scala oversaw the development and production of numerous film projects, including Ron Howard’s tense drama Ransom, the adventure comedy Nothing to Lose, Father of the Bride 2, Enemy of the State and the hit action thriller Armageddon.
ANDREW DUNN (Director of Photography) won considerable applause for his work on Robert Altman’s lauded Gosford Park, and since has added distinctive dimension to Kevin Reynolds’s The Count of Monte Cristo as well as Sweet Home Alabama, starring Reese Witherspoon.
Andrew Dunn began his career with some of the finest British television drama: Edge of Darkness directed by Martin Campbell with Bob Peck, Joe Don Baker and Joanne Whalley, The Monocled Mutineer directed by Jim O’Brien with Paul McGann and Timothy West, Tumbledown directed by Richard Eyre with Colin Firth, Blackeyes directed by Dennis Potter and Absence of War directed by Richard Eyre with John Thaw.
His subsequent film career has taken him around the world. He has worked on such films as L.A. Story, directed by Mick Jackson with Steve Martin; The Bodyguard, starring Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston; Nicholas Hytner’s The Madness of King George from the play by Alan Bennett, with Nigel Hawthorne and Helen Mirren; and Hytner’s next film, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, starring Daniel Day Lewis and Winona Ryder.
Andrew Dunn’s other films include Blame it on the Bellboy, directed by Mark Herman; The Hawk, directed by David Hayman with Helen Mirren; Clean Slate, directed by Mick Jackson with Dana Carvey; Hush directed Jonathon Darby with Jessica Lange and Gwyneth Paltrow; and Addicted to Love, directed by Griffin Dunne with Meg Ryan and Matthew Broderick.
Andrew Dunn’s cinematography on Ever After won accolades, which starred Drew Barrymore and Angelica Huston and was filmed in the Dordogne. Dunn’s previous collaboration with producer Denise Di Novi was Practical Magic, starring the luminous ladies Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.
MICHAEL CARLIN (Production Designer) comes to film after a successful career as a designer in music promos and commercials. His films include Fever Pitch, Tim Roth’s controversial The War Zone, There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble, Me Without You, the BBC version of Crime and Punishment, lensed in St. Petersberg, The Heart of Me and Keen Eddie, a pilot directed by Simon West.
CHARLES McCLELLAND (Editor) started his career in the theatre, as director and designer, before moving into the demanding world of series television. He has worked extensively with Dennie Gordon in television for the last few years; he edited the pilot episode of Ally McBeal; and for the past six years has cut the acclaimed ABC series The Practice. What A Girl Wants is his first feature film.
RUPERT GREGSON-WILLIAMS (Composer) has worked extensively in both television and film. Feature film projects Gregson-Williams has contributed to include Antz, The Prince of Egypt, Hannibal, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Thunderpants, Plots with a View, Crime Spree, Virtual Sexuality and Urban Ghost Story. He has also worked on such television projects as Extremely Dangerous, Happy Birthday Shakespeare, Hawk, Princess of Thieves, My Beautiful Son, The Last Detective and Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story, for which he was nominated for an Emmy in the category of Outstanding Music Composition.
As costume designer, SHAY CUNLIFFE paints a bold canvas with her seamless illustrations. Her early films include Dolores Claiborne with Kathy Bates; The Long Walk Home; A Civil Action starring John Travolta; Of Mice and Men with John Malkovich; and Mrs. Soffel starring Mel Gibson.
Subsequently, Mel Gibson invited her to design the clothes for his directorial debut, The Man Without a Face. John Sayles’ memorable western Lone Star gave new challenges and was a wonderful contrast with her work on City of Angels, which starred Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan.
Cunliffe’s recent credits include The Prime Gig, Sweet November and Enough. Upcoming in 2003, Cunliffe’s work will be seen in Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy, Alex & Emma, starring Kate Hudson and Luke Wilson.
DEBRA BAUM (Music Supervisor) has supervised the music selections and produced the soundtracks for a wide variety of films including White Oleander, Welcome to Collinwood, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, A Walk to Remember, Angel Eyes and 3,000 Miles to Graceland. Baum has also supervised the music for Heist, Driven and The Pledge.
