“Let’s go see Cameron,” Roberts exclaims excitedly while dragging Mulroney by the arm.
Then came the laughter.
It only got more giggly when costarRupert Everettwho played George, Roberts' character’s gay wingmanarrived.
Credit: Ruven Afanador for EW
The group’s buzzy, infectious energy is part of what has cementedWedding’s status as a rom-com classic.
“People come up to me and just say, “My Best Friend’s Wedding!”
and I’m like, “Aww,” says Diaz.
Ruven Afanador for EW
“It’s just this joyous feeling that you get off of them.
I appreciate that so much.”
Mulroney is even moved to tears when talking about the film.
Ruven Afanador for EW
“I think about these guys every day,” he admits.
“Romantic comedy is a really difficult genre,” says directorP.J.
Hogan, who was interviewed separately from the cast.
Ruven Afanador for EW
But when I see the film, it’s still got a snap to it.
When it’s funny, it’s really funny, and the actors all glow.
And I think Julia was extraordinary in the lead role.
I mean, who else could’ve pulled that off?”
EW brought together theWeddingparty to talk about the film, feuds, and, oh yes, karaoke.
JULIA ROBERTS:I just thought it was really clever and just funny.
All the physical comedy I loved.
Lots of falling down and falling through things, falling all over myself, falling over Dermot.
Let me make you happy."
Just that line: That’s just so succinct and sweet and meaningful.
DERMOT MULRONEY:I liked that he was the lead in the movie and Julia Roberts liked him.
I liked those, like, obvious elements, but he had his own little story.
He was a sportswriter and he was in love in ways that many people still argue with me about.
I wouldn’t give this movie up for anything.
CAMERON DIAZ:Yeah.
I mean, I was considering turning it down.
No, I’m kidding.
I got to work with these folks and Julia.
It was, like, a huge break for me.
MULRONEY:I’ve worked in Chicago a lot since then, and that city loves this movie.
DIAZ:My sister-in-law [Nicole Richie] is obsessed with this movie.
I was like, “Yes, I think I do.”
RUPERT EVERETT:When I got the part, it was literally two lines in the script.
I thought it was kind of a career-icide move at first.
Hogan made me test, like, three or four times for the film.
I kept saying, “P.J., what can I do?
There’s nothing I can do.”
ROBERTS:You sound like you didn’t want it.
EVERETT:And so, I came in with quite a bad attitude, in a way.
What was the point, I thought.
But it was a complete changing point for me.
MULRONEY:And for our film culture, Rupert.
It was a changing point for that, too.
EVERETT:But we all got on so well straightaway.
And everybody clicked on screen straightaway, and you could feel that.
And, for me, it was magical.
So, I shot it live.
But then Cameron was so game that the applause started to become real.
DIAZ:I was terrified to do that scene, for real.
I allowed the true terror of singing in front of people to be alive in me.
I wanted to run and hide, and Dermot kept me there.
You’re not gonna die."
And I was like, “But I’m dying.”
EVERETT:It’s an amazing scene because it turns around from being ridiculous to suddenly being incredibly moving.
[Michael and Kimmy] fall in love more and [Julianne] becomes more isolated in her plotting.
ROBERTS:I need to watch this movie again.
I don’t remember feeling isolated in my plotting.
[Looks at Everett] I had you.
EVERETT:I hadn’t arrived back thenyou were on your own.
DIAZ:And Julianne also knew that I didn’t want to sing, and she made me sing.
ROBERTS: I just was trying to be encouraging.
HOGAN:I really wanted to give George a lot more….
I’d always wanted to do a scene at a restaurant.
We realized that everybody seems to know at least most of the lyrics to quite a few Bacharach songs.
only wrote that scene just before the movie started.
[It wasn’t written] when I got the script originally.
And then when the movie started, P.J.
DIAZ:And the best part of it was when they started handing out the bibs.
And we were all like, “What?”
We were like, “Is this happening?”
They’re like, “Yeah.”
One of the film’s quieter, more sweetly moving moments occurs shortly after the seafood restaurant.
Julianne and Michael take a ferry ride around Chicago and share one last dance.
We’d either pause or just blaze through like you do.
Then, like the eighth trip down the river somebody yells, “Hey, Dermot!”
and I was like, “Yes!”
I look up and it’s, like, a friend from college, which didn’t really count.
I go, “Hi, John.”
AfterWeddingwrapped, it faced some harsh test screenings, which sent production back into reshoots.
The first bathroom scene just didn’t work at all.
The way it originally played was Cameron’s character just forgave Julianne almost immediately.
She almost ruined my life."
DIAZ:I think it just kind of revealed that it was needed.
ROBERTS:Yeah, we needed a little bit more of an adversary.
It wasn’t as gratifying.
ROBERTSNor was the original ending that we filmed.
It was not as gratifying.
HOGAN:The focus group didn’t want Julianne to have a happy ending.
They still hadn’t forgiven her.
They just weren’t ready for her to end up in the arms of another guy.
I thought the answer was George, because the film really worked when Rupert was on camera.
Rupert and Julia’s chemistry is so great.
EVERETT:When I read the [final scene] I couldn’t believe it.
The whole end is so wonderful and tragic in a way.
It’s very, very moving.
HOGAN:One of the studio executives called it “the $40 million reshoot.”
I said, “But it didn’t cost $40 million.”
He said, “No, that’s what you’ve added to your box office.”
Mulroney and Diaz believe Michael and Kimmy are still living happily ever after.
EVERETT:I think George and Julianne are a little bit like Will and Grace.
ROBERTS:We’re not living together.
But I live across the street.
