Ten years ago,Bride Warshit theaters in the middle of the romantic comedy boom.
Ahead,Casey WilsonandJune Diane Raphaeltell EW about the wild ride that was the making ofBride Wars.
I just thought, ‘I gotta get us an agent [here].’
Casey Wilson: An agent was the holy grail.
I was like, I need an agent, and I must become a star quickly.
When we got there he announced that he was aliteraryagent and we went into the bathroom and basically cried.
Raphael: I remember seeing his card, “Literary department,” and being like NO.
Wilson: I was like, June, this means they think we’re ugly.
And that’s tough.
Which felt crazy because Casey and I were living like animals.
Wilson: And once again, she wanted to work with us aswriters.
Raphael: Oh, no interest in our acting careers.
But she said, “You know I want you to take a look at this script.”
I quit every job I had.
We didn’t even have the job yet.
Raphael: We flew out [to Los Angeles] and my sister drove us to New Regency.
I remember what we both wore jeans, heels, tank tops, and blazers.
Our idea was like, listen, Hollywood has rejected us as actors but we’re serious writers.
Wilson: I brought glasses, June.
Raphael: At Kate’s house the whole experience was thrilling.
She came downstairs and it was like this angel descended.
She cozied up on the couch and we had these giant index cards and my hands were shaking.
I was likenooo!We’re not standups!
Wilson: It was like no one wanted to acknowledge us as actors.
Raphael: But she loved it and that was that.
Wilson: So then we had to learn to write a movie.
Raphael: I had never seen a screenplay before.
Never laid my eyes on one.
We watchedPsychoand were like, we’re done.
Raphael: The last thing that had to happen was to pitch Anne Hathaway to get her on board.
And luckily she said yes these little angels walking amongst us hired women who did not own Final Draft.
But nevertheless, we persisted.
Wilson: Essentially Kate Hudson gave us our first big break.
She took a huge chance on us and we’ll never forget it.
MakingBride Wars
Raphael: It was a long process.
The writers' strike hit at some point near the end of it.
We were up until literally 11:59 with Kate and our producers finishing a draft.
They even brought in other writers at one point and I felt like our lives were over.
Wilson: But then we came back on!
We came right back.
It’s not like it’s one person’s vision that’s being executed.
That was a shock to us, but it’s not that unusual as it turns out.
Wilson: We had to lobby big time for our roles in it.
Raphael: We did not have to audition!
I don’t remember auditioning.
Wilson: June, yes we did.
You blocked this out.
We sure as shoot did.
Raphael: I was on set a lot more than Casey because she was onSNL.
Raphael: I’d just finishedYear Oneso I was able to be there for the majority of it.
I had an incredible experience sitting next to Gary and watching him direct.
And that’s okay, it just wasn’t exactly where we were going.
I was likeohthat was a joke!
Raphael: We had a lot of interesting side characters and set pieces that didn’t make it.
Kate Hudson’s hair turns blue but in our script she was bald.
She was hanging out with her nieces and just relegated to the dregs.
Wilson: It was a real crew of undesirables.
Raphael: I’m remembering our draft very fondly right now.
Wilson: Seems like you really love it.
And it was Chris Pratt.
The audiences loved him too much, nothing he says is unlikable.
Raphael: I remember being like, I know you because you’re Anna Faris' husband.
It was like, I guess that’s how he got this part!
It was a different time.
But it was a problem how good he was.
Wilson: Now, I urge all of your readers to Google my outfit from the premiere.
It’s really something.
He was like, honey, I think we can do better, with love.
And I was like, we cannot possibly do better than this gold disco ball dress.
And my hair was equally problematic.
I did huge Shirley Temple curls.
Raphael: When I saw the hair I was like, oh, this is the beginning stages.
Then they’ll brush it out, obviously.
It was one of the great tragedies of my life.
Wilson: Never forget it.
Raphael: There was a party at Tiffany’s because they were featured in the movie.
Great vehicles for women have always been our aim.
Wilson: We didn’t have one dollar, in fact!
Raphael: But [Bride Wars] was really our way in.
I look at it so fondly as an introduction to this industry.
Wilson: It’s kind of amazing that it was truly our first job.
We just thought, well I guess every movie gets made because here we are.
It’s so comical.
We were just like oh, gotta go make this movie they’re gonna produce.
Hope we can get parts in it!
