Many early aughts projects are turning 20 and that includes the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, based on the book by Ann Brashares. After 20 years, one of the cast’s auditions has stuck with director Ken Kwapis. In a recent interview with ScreenRant, Kwapis reflected on Blake Lively‘s audition. Lively played Bridget Vreeland, and as Kwapis revealed, Lively hadn’t had an acting job before it. She was joined by Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls), America Ferrara (Ugly Betty), and Amber Tamblyn. Together they played friends Bridget, Tibby, Lena, and Carmen who find a pair of jeans that despite their varied body types, fit them all perfectly. When the quartet parts for the summer, they decide to share the pants and go on journeys of self-transformation. When reflecting on Lively’s audition for the role, Kwapis said:
“Blake came in without anything on her resume. She’d never had an acting job before, and she was 16 when she auditioned for the role, but it was so clear in the room that she had this intuitive connection to that character. She was just perfect for it. She had a tough job, too. First time out of the gate as an actor in a major emotional picture, playing a character who’s dealing with some pretty weighty issues, specifically trying to process the death of a parent by suicide. She had some tough stuff to pull off, and she did it so beautifully.”
Our ‘Sisterhood’ Didn’t Actually Know Each Other Before the Film
Kwapis reveals that Bledel, Tamblyn, Lively, and Ferrara hadn’t met prior to the movie. Since the girls do spend most of the movie apart, on their own journeys, there had to be a balance in getting actors with the right chemistry that made it seem like those scenes at the beginning and at the end weren’t the only times they interacted. They had to convincingly come off as life-long best friends. Kwapis says that he had no doubt in his mind that he’d picked the right actresses to do that.
“The challenge was how to encourage the four actors to create a sense that they’re lifelong friends; that they’ve been best friends since birth. There was no question in my mind when I met America, Alexis, Amber, and Blake that those were the four actors for these roles.”
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is available to rent on Prime Video. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
Source: ScreenRant