Freddie Prinze Jr. knows what the principal did that summer.
While promoting the March launch of his new horror movie podcast, “That was pretty scaryPrinze Jr. sat down with too fabulous to discuss the making of one of his most notable films, the 1997 teen horror film “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”
Prinze Jr., who co-hosts the podcast with filmmaker Jon Lee Brody, revealed that his experience on the set of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” was, well, a little scary.
“The director didn’t want me in this movie and he made it clear the whole time,” Prinze Jr. said in the podcast episode. “I needed a guide. I needed a director. I needed direction, and he wasn’t trying to give it to me.”
According to Prinze Jr., Jim Gillespie, who directed the film, had his heart set on “Clueless” actor Jeremy Sisto to play the role of Ray Bronson, but the studio and screenwriter Kevin Williamson saw something in Prinze Jr. and wanted To do it. play bronson. Consequently, Prinze Jr. said, Gillespie had it bad.
The tension on set became so intense that the 21-year-old actor said he woke up not wanting to go to work and ultimately considered quitting acting altogether. “He would give notes to everyone before shooting except me,” Prinze Jr. said. “He made sure to stand out every time.”
“I will give the man this. . . he didn’t mince words about it,” Prinze Jr. told TooFab. “There was no passive aggressiveness, which I hate, he was very direct in the fact that, ‘I don’t want you in this movie.’ So when that’s your first job and you hear those words, it just rips you apart, man. It just tears you apart.”
Prinze Jr. described receiving “psychotic notes” while filming, such as: “Don’t keep your mouth open, you look stupid when you do that.”
“That was the exact note, word for word, I’ll never forget it,” Prinze Jr. said. “And I think, I’m either going to break down or I’m going to kick this guy’s ass. As if those were the only two options in my head. I remember Ryan (Phillippe) coming up to me and saying, ‘Fuck that guy, man. How many times have you auditioned for this movie?’ and I say, ‘Five times.’ He says, ‘Yeah, you earned it. They didn’t offer you the role, you earned it.’”
Prinze Jr. went on to say that Gillespie subjected him to dangerous stunts he didn’t have to perform and, on the podcast, told a story about narrowly avoiding a boat propeller accident that could have killed him.
However, the “She’s All That” actor insisted he held no ill will towards Gillespie. He said if he hadn’t made the movie, he would never have met his wife, co-star Sarah Michelle Gellar, she would never have furthered her career and she wouldn’t have the podcast he has now.
