When screenwriter Adam “Tex” Davis delivered his first draft of the screenplay for Just Friends to the management/production company, Benderspink, the story at it’s center had a ‘just friends’ relationship. Everyone agreed that was the way to go, so Davis consequently zeroed in on that concept and fleshed it out, with the resulting screenplay selling to New Line Cinema.
During the writing process Davis was bombarded with hundreds of woebegone tales of guys and gals stuck in the ‘friend zone.’ “We realized that there was a wealth of material and this was one of those movies that everyone could relate to,” says the writer. “The script underwent many changes, but we all knew it was such a good idea, so we kept going.”
Helping to supply some of these key anecdotes were producer Chris Bender and New Line Cinema production executive Richard Brener, who supported the project from the outset. “Ultimately the script became a compilation of all sorts of people. The characters all sprang from real stories, so it’s been fun to develop,” says Bender.
“Just Friends asks the question, ‘when you’re stuck in the ‘friend zone,’ can you get out?’ The answer is yes,” says Bender, who relates an anecdote about a guy who ended up dating a girl years after she had rejected him in high school. This revelation shifted the thrust of the tale. Until then, Bender thought it was impossible to get out of the ‘friend zone.’ “I realized that it really was about timing. This story shifted to incorporate that idea as well. The story is now about the character of Chris Brander allowing himself to become vulnerable again after being rejected in high-school where he was relegated to the friend zone,” continues Bender.
Director Roger Kumble could also identify with the story. “I’ve been a victim of the ‘friend zone’ one too many times. That was the reason I wanted to make this movie. It was a relatable idea, and if executed right, could really tap into the Zeitgeist.” Kumble had wanted to work with Ryan Reynolds since the late 1990’s, when he spotted him in a film called Coming Soon. Since then the talented Reynolds has gone on to appear in such wildly diverse films as National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, Blade: Trinity and The Amityville Horror.
“I’m shocked that a movie about this subject matter hasn’t been made before,” says Reynolds. “Everyone can relate to being subjugated to the ‘friend zone’ and placed in this perma-penalty box of non-sexual gratification, the purgatorial Cyrano role of a lifetime. I went through it in high school when I was in love with this girl for years while she dated jerk after jerk, but came to me for advice!” admits Reynolds. “It certainly is my inspiration for this movie.”
“In high school the character I play, Chris Brander, wore his heart on his sleeve. Basically he was just incredibly wounded. In the subsequent 10 years since graduation, he’s lived in a profound reactionary state to those horrifying moments in high school,” continues Reynolds, who drew on his experience living in Los Angeles, modeling Chris’ professional world on the L.A. agent archetype. “One is inundated in that moderately superficial world where there is a thinly veiled veneer of communication you don’t find elsewhere. It’s kind of cool because you get this rare opportunity to play a character who’s the aggressor, but he’s redeemable because you see where this type of person came from,” relates Reynolds.
Says screenwriter Adam “Tex” Davis, “the thing that was sweet about Chris Brander in high school and made girls want to be his friend is all gone. Since then he’s lost himself in the process of losing weight and gaining good looks. Now he’s this cold, shallow person. By the end of the movie, he rediscovers himself.” Producer Chris Bender concurs, “at his core, Chris is a good guy who’s forgotten what he once was.”
“First and foremost, Just Friends is a comedy, but it’s also a great story,” says Reynolds. “A lot of comedies forsake the story, but from the outset Roger Kumble was adamant about making sure the story is the key ingredient. That’s what drew me into the script to begin with. It’s a beautiful story. I love it.”
When Roger Kumble saw Amy Smart in the comedy Rat Race, he knew he’d found the person he was looking for to play the role of Jamie Palamino – an actress who was beautiful and really funny. He also sensed that she and Ryan Reynolds would have great on-screen chemistry.
“Ryan is charismatic and one of the funniest actors I’ve ever worked with,” says Smart. “He’s got good comedic timing; he’s great with physical comedy, facial expressions, inflection and the way he delivers his lines. But what to me is more rare, he has a great way of bringing his heart into it at times when it’s needed. He is very present, and I love that.”
“Amy Smart is the perfect embodiment of the girl next door,” says Reynolds. “She’s a beautiful young woman who’s also incredibly approachable. There’s something accessible about her which makes her special. You feel like you could walk up to her and actually say ‘hi’ instead of cowering in fear. We have such a great chemistry and that’s something that you cannot manufacture. It’s either there or it’s not. Every day was really palpable with her.”
Smart responds, “I was drawn to the project because I wanted to do a romantic comedy, and after auditioning with Ryan on two other films before Just Friends, I always felt we had great chemistry. I thought we could really bring a lot to these characters.”
“For me, Jamie Palamino in high school is full of life and energy, wanting to live in the moment,” Smart says of her character. “She’s also struggling with insecurities and wanting to fit in. She has a best friend whom she never thinks of while she goes through all these misfortunes with the other guys in her life. You catch her ten years later at 28, living at home and working as a bartender to make money to become a teacher. Going from the top of her game and sliding back down to where she started from is a little frustrating. She’s trying to find herself and feels humbled by Chris Brander, who she always cared about, coming back, wondering why he just completely disappeared on her. And now the tables have turned.”
Screenwriter Adam Davis agrees. “Jamie is the small town girl next door who is good inside and out. Maybe she was a little immature in high school and wasn’t willing to date the guy who wasn’t good looking. But that was high school. Now she’s struggling, and doesn’t quite know what she wants to do with her life. She’s pursuing a teaching degree and she’s the great catch waiting at home.”
Jamie is the polar opposite in every way of spoiled socialite and aspiring musician Samantha James, who just happens to be an ex-girlfriend of Chris Brander. Director Roger Kumble thought that finding an actress who possessed the right combination to be funny, bitter and tortured to play Samantha was going to be hard, until Anna Faris appeared on the scene. When Kumble first met Faris, she said she’d love to do the part, but she didn’t want the character to be just the rich bitch.
“So together we added another dimension to the character of Samantha, who is more a product of the MTV generation,” says Faris. “She’s narcissistic and self-absorbed, but she’s got a heart of gold at the same time. Her character was created for this movie. She represents the ultimate obstacle for Chris. In a way, she’s a product of his own womanizing. Their affair is over, but she wants more and he’s forced to drag her along because of his job. He is constantly coming up with ruses to lose her while he pursues Jamie.”
“This is one of the true mentally unhinged characters I’ve ever seen on film,” says Ryan Reynolds. “Anna has created a completely original character. If you could cross Paris Hilton with Britney Spears and a Vietnam Vet, you’d have this character! Anna’s taken what’s on the page and elevated it to this very layered character.”
“I love working with Ryan,” responds Faris. “He brings so much to the table and is so generous as an actor that I felt really comfortable attacking him! I’ve never met anybody as crazy as my character. I loved playing Samantha, but it required so much energy. She’s hyper-crazy, self-absorbed and a sex maniac.”
Rounding out the main cast is Chris Klein, who portrays Dusty, another guy from high school days who had an unrequited crush on Jamie Palamino and is now taking another stab ten years later, much to the chagrin of Chris Brander.
“Dusty is a great Jersey cheese ball,” laughs Amy Smart. “Even when we start to learn more about him, there’s something so likeable about his character.”
“Dusty Dinkleman was a nobody in high school,” says Klein. “He had a bad acne problem, was really shy and his passion is music. The funny thing about Dusty is that he didn’t even have pull enough to get into the ‘friend zone.’ After he graduated, his acne cleared up and he grew into a good lookin’ young man and decided to be a Jersey Player. He uses his music and guitar to pick up women and decides to go after Jamie Palamino, the one that he could never get in high school. He’s charismatic and knows how to work the crowd and really uses that to his advantage, even though there’s more to him than meets the eye. There’s always that one guy who’s shallow enough to come up with these crazy schemes to get chicks.”
“This was an opportunity to take a good-natured character like I’ve played in other movies and do a one eighty and actually be the guy with some cobwebs. That was an exciting prospect for me,” concludes Klein.
The hardest role for the filmmakers to cast was that of Mike, Chris Brander’s bratty younger brother. “We searched high and low for the right actor to play Mike,” says director Roger Kumble. “Christopher Marquette fit the bill. His relationship with his brother was identical to that of Chris and Mike in the film. What’s funny is that it’s so relatable.”
Just Friends (2005)
Directed by: Roger Kumble
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Amy Smart, Chris Klein, Christopher Marquette, Stephen Root, Julie Hagerty, Fred Ewanuick, Amy Matysio, Wendy Anderson, Giacomo Beltrami
Screenplay by: Adam ‘Tex’ Davis
Production Design by: Robb Wilson King
Cinematography by: Anthony B. Richmond
Film Editing by: Jeff Freeman
Costume Design by: Alexandra Welker
Set Decoration by: Susan Emshwiller, Christina Kuhnigk
Music by: Jeff Cardoni
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content including some dialogue.
Distributed by: New Line Cinema
Release Date: November 23, 2005
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