The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Movie Trailer. “We’d been a foursome for as long as I could remember. We depended on each other to understand things that no one else could, and to be there for the things we couldn’t face alone.” – Carmen
Faced with the challenge of introducing four actresses who had never met and helping them develop a credible chemistry on screen as though they had known each other all their lives, Kwapis invited them on a special shopping trip before production started. He gave them each $75 and turned them loose in a thrift store for an afternoon, charged with finding an outfit for themselves and each other – in character.
As a result, “They immediately began to interact as Tibby, Carmen, Bridget and Lena,” he says. “It helped immensely toward developing that lived-in feeling of lifelong friendship. What I wanted to avoid was their putting on a show of being great friends.”
In retrospect, he needn’t have worried because the four became fast friends on set and have remained close. “It’s always a crap shoot when you cast actors,” Di Novi says realistically.
“Are they going to like each other, are they going to get along? In this case, the movie gods were on our side and these women naturally clicked. They had so much fun together. Ultimately that energy and camaraderie shows on screen, which is great because one important thing about this story is that it’s not syrupy or too earnest; it has a sense of fun and irreverence running through the drama.”
“Casting on this project was key,” notes Chase. “Not only did each young woman have to be a terrific actress in her own right she had to fit the part. Readers know these characters so well we really wanted our choices to embody the essence of each one. Together, they had to represent the sisterhood – without that, there’s no movie.” Adds Kosove, “our objective was not so much to find four actresses but to find these four women.”
Amber Tamblyn as Tibby
Smart, sarcastic, rebellious, creative – “she definitely marches to her own beat,” says Amber Tamblyn, the Emmy-nominated lead of the CBS series Joan of Arcadia, cast as Tibby.
In contrast to her friends, Tibby’s summer plans revolve around working shifts at the local discount store and babysitting her little sister. “As the only one of the group who doesn’t have travel plans for the summer, she’s focusing on other people who, in her estimation, aren’t going anywhere with their lives either, and decides to spend the summer working on her video, the Suckumentary, which is just her interviewing people in town in order to show how pathetic their lives are. It’s her way of coping and venting her anger.”
“Not only is Tibby angry,” offers Kwapis, “she’s actually very invested in being angry and miserable and refusing to connect with people.” What she lacks is an appreciation of how rich life can be on a moment to moment basis, and how to mine the good. Tibby needs something to shake her out of her entrenched opinions and that will happen in a most unexpected way, through a chance encounter with an extraordinary girl named Bailey (played by Jenna Boyd) who views life in an entirely different way and for very compelling reasons. Says Kwapis, “When Bailey offers to be Tibby’s assistant on the video project, little does Tibby realize that Bailey is going to collaborate on a much deeper level.”
Tamblyn was the first of the quartet to be cast, “which immediately set the bar very high,” says Kwapis. “Amber has a keen intelligence, a sharp wit and cynical point of view on things yet, like Tibby, she’s not all edge. She has an equal amount of heart, and was able to bring all these layers to the part, because it’s important to see there’s more to Tibby than even she herself is aware.”
America Ferrera as Carmen
Sassy and outspoken yet deeply sensitive, fireball Carmen is brought to life by America Ferrera, who earned wide recognition, critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award with her feature debut in 2002’s comedy drama Real Women Have Curves. The film took the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.
Hoping for quality time with her father, whom she’s seen only briefly since her parents’ divorce, Carmen is instead stunned to discover him happily living with a fiancé and two future stepchildren. As producer Johnson suggests, “It’s as though he has moved on to a whole new family and Carmen can’t help thinking, for herself and her mother, ‘weren’t we good enough for you?’” Disappointed and suddenly out of place, she struggles with her feelings rather than risk losing him with a confrontation, until her emotions get the better of her and all hell breaks loose.
Ferrera sees Carmen’s situation as “something many people can relate to in this world where the definition of family is always changing and so often one parent is not present or where relationships can be full of love but lack trust. I grew up in a single-parent household so Carmen’s struggles are familiar to me.” What Carmen must learn, Ferrera says, “is that your parents aren’t superheroes and aren’t perfect and that can be a very painful experience.
Sometimes you hate them. And after that you learn to love and respect them.” For all her self-doubt when it comes to talking with her father, “Carmen is really the rock of the quartet,” says Di Novi. She’s the one who always says what the others are thinking or feeling and with they could say. She’s also the writer and narrator of the story. Carmen is a combination of passion and introspection, and America is all of that and more.”
Blake Lively as Bridget
When the story opens, Bridget is still reeling from the recent death of her mother. Afraid to face the enormity of their grief, both she and her father have chosen denial and escape over communication. Always confident, athletic and impulsive, Bridget has lately grown reckless, and unwisely decides to amp it up over the summer by pursuing an out-of-bounds older coach while at soccer camp in Mexico. But the relationship proves more than she bargained for.
“On the surface, it seems Bridget doesn’t have any problems at all, she’s always fun and the life of the party,” says Blake Lively, cast as the high-energy MVP. “When she feels a mood coming on, she takes off running, literally. She needs to stop and deal with things.”
The filmmaking team agrees that Bridget was the hardest role to cast. “Who’d have thought we would have difficulty finding a vibrant, attractive, energetic all-American blonde in Southern California?” jokes Chase, recalling countless hours of auditions. It was Lively who finally struck that perfect chord, although not based upon her resume.
As Kwapis recalls, “I turned over her photo to see what she had done and it was blank. I couldn’t believe it. But after she’d finished reading her scenes I turned to the casting director and said, ‘our Bridget just walked out of the room.’ She’s absolutely wonderful.”
“It’s always exciting to discover a new star,” says Di Novi. “When a newcomer just blows you away like that, it’s part of the thrill of being in this business.”
Alexis Bledel as Lena
A striking beauty, Lena is wary of being judged on her looks. Believing that people are uninterested in knowing the real Lena, she is shy with anyone but her friends. Dressing modestly to avoid attention, she is happiest when left alone to sketch and paint.
Somewhat hesitantly, she embarks on a summer trip to Greece to meet her grandparents, never dreaming to find there a forbidden romance that will shake her self-image to its core and alter her view of life.
“Lena lives through observation, not participation,” notes Alexis Bledel, cast as the shy artist. “Uncomfortable in her own skin, unable to take a compliment, uncertain about everything and afraid to take a chance, what she needs is to find her courage and meet life halfway.”
A two-time Teen Choice Awards nominee for her leading role as Rory in The WB series Gilmore Girls, Bledel also distinguished herself in Tuck Everlasting and Pride & Prejudice and most recently appeared in the action thriller Sin City. Had she been an actress in the 1920s, Kwapis suggests, she would have been an extraordinary silent film star, because of “her ability to express character through nuance, gesture and facial expression. Luckily, that encompasses comedy. This is a woman who knows how to take a pratfall.”
“I have no doubt,” says Chase, “that Alexis has spent her entire life feeling people stare at her. Yet inside she’s a smart, funny, delightful person. In that way I imagine she can identify with Lena on a fundamental level.”
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
Directed by: Ken Kwapis
Starring: Blake Lively, Amber Tamblyn, Jenna Boyd, Alexis Bledel, America Ferrera, Nancy Travis, Rachel Ticotin, Mike Vogel, Maria Konstadarou, Erica Hubbard
Screenplay by: Delia Ephron
Production Design by: Gae S. Buckley
Cinematography by: John Bailey
Film Editing by: Kathryn Himoff
Costume Design by: Lisa Jensen
Set Decoration by: Carol Lavallee
Art Direction by: Kelvin Humenny, Helen Jarvis
Music by: Cliff Eidelman
MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements, sensuality and language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: May 20, 2005
Views: 143
