If you have never seen Heathers , you are seriously missing out on an ’80s classic! It was — and still is so iconic.
The film is a murder-mystery involving a group of cliché, popular high school girls. But there is a lot more to it than just that!
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Here are some behind the scenes secrets that fans didn’t know about Heathers .
1. One of the writers of the movie drew inspiration based on the girls he went to high school with.
Screenwriter, Daniel Waters, revealed in an interview that his writing was inspired by the catty, petty experiences he and his sister had while they were in high school.
2. Lisanne Falk says that she would be okay if a remake of the movie never happens.
“I think there are some things that are good on their own and don’t need to be repeated. It’s already been done. I think it would be good to create something completely new. I just think we should let it rest,” she told Fox News .
3. Brad Pitt was the first choice to play J.D.
That’s right! In an alternate world, Brad Pitt might have played J.D.
“We did a reading of the script, and we asked one of our actress friends, who was going to read one of the roles, ‘We can’t find anyone for the role of J.D., can you bring someone from your acting class?,'” Daniel Waters revealed to Yahoo .
“So this pimply … [still] good-looking [guy] with a laconic drawl, he does the J.D. role. He was all right,” he added.
“He came up to me afterwards like, ‘Hey man, I know I’m not anybody, but for what it’s worth, that’s brilliant.'”
Years later, Daniel realized that the guy who read for the role was none other than Brad Pitt.
4. The role of Veronica was originally offered to Jennifer Connelly, Justine Bateman, and Drew Barrymore.
And while any one of them would have made an excellent Veronica, I’m sure, it’s hard to imagine anyone but Winona Ryder playing the part .
5. Winona Ryder was initially turned down for the role of Veronica because she wasn’t “pretty enough”.
“I auditioned and they were like, ‘Oh, thanks,'” she told EW .
“And I went to the Beverly Center to Macy’s and had them do a makeover on me. I went back because I kind of knew that they thought I wasn’t pretty enough. They were trying to get Jennifer Connelly.”
6. Winona Ryder’s manager begged her not to be part of the movie.
Thankfully, she did not take her manager’s advice, who claimed that her “career would be over,” if she took the role.
Evidently, that was not the case. Quite the contrary!
7. Daniel Waters called Veronica “a female Travis Bickle.”
“Veronica’s character was much more a willing participant in the murders,” he told Variety .
“I almost called her a female Travis Bickle. Her narration was even spookier. I think the triumph of the film is that Winona brings so much to the role. It’s so endearing.”
8. Lisanne Falk didn’t have much of a friendship with Shannen Doherty.
“I really didn’t have a connection with her. It wasn’t for anything in particular. She was often on set with her teacher because she was also in school. But we didn’t have as many shared interests. It wasn’t anything like I disliked her. I just didn’t really get to know her well. We didn’t have that opportunity to create a bond,” she told Fox News .
9. Kim Walker and Lisanne Falk remained friends for more than 10 years after the movie.
“I actually had a relationship with her that lasted about 10 years or more after the movie because we both went to the same acting school. During filming, I didn’t know her that way, but afterward, it turned out we actually had mutual friends,” Lisanne told Fox News .
10. Christian Slater dated Kim Walker while filming the movie, but later broke up with her to date Winona Ryder instead.
Hilariously, however, Winona does not even recall dating Christian — so it must have not been that significant.
11. Lisanne Falk lied about her age when she auditioned for the part of Heather McNamara.
At the time, Lisanne was 23 years old . But she told the casting directors that she was 18 so that she had a higher chance of landing the teenage role.
Ultimately, she got the part. But she was the oldest of the Heathers.
“Looking back at it, it’s kind of gotten misinterpreted. At the time there were so many teen movies where you had people who were looking 30 years old, who were way past their due date in terms of being in high school,” she told *Fox News*.
“I got this audition through my agent and… I was 23 at the time. But I always looked quite young… And when I read the script, I just knew I had to do this. I didn’t want to lose my opportunity. So I thought, ‘I’m just going to go in and add a ‘teen’ at the end of my age so it’s not even an issue. So that they wouldn’t think twice about hiring me.'” .”
“And basically it worked. I said I was 19 and they were fine with it. I didn’t think I wouldn’t have to deal with that again.”
12. Lisanne also almost got caught in the lie.
“I think it wasn’t until we actually started shooting and I was talking about living with my boyfriend — not that I couldn’t have done that at 19. But at the time they were like, ‘Ooh, is your mom OK with that?’ And so yeah, it all came out laughs . But it was fine,” she said to Fox News .
13. Shannen Doherty confronted a married male crew member for having an affair with an underage extra.
After confronting him, Shannon claimed that it was the first time anyone had ever called her “a [expletive].”
