Katie Holmes almost scored two virginal teenager roles in the late '90s.
Katie Holmes almost scored two virginal teenager roles in the late '90s.
In addition to playing Joey Potter on Dawson's Creek, screenwriter/director Roger Kumble revealed to Cosmopolitan magazine that Holmes was considered to take on the lead role of good girl Annette Hargrove in the 1999 film Cruel Intentions. Kumble said the studio really wanted the young actress but he thought, at the time, the film "needed someone with a little more strength of character."
That's when he and Cruel Intentions leading man Ryan Phillippe decided to persuade the actor's then-girlfriend (and later his first wife) Reese Witherspoon to take the part.
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"So, basically, we took Reese out to dinner to get her drunk, and we ended up getting drunk," Kumble admitted. "And I literally got down on my knees and begged her: 'Please, it'll be 15 days, you'll be great.' And Reese was like, 'I'll do it. But we need to work on the character.' I'm like, 'Anything, anything, anything.'"
Kumble took the actress' advice on Annette's role in the movie and as it turned out, she was right. "She wanted to strengthen the character, and she was right. And she and I got together, and we gave Annette more bite so she wasn't a doormat. And I'm very grateful to her for that."
Cruel Intentions, also starring Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair, follows rich teen Kathryn (Gellar) as she makes a bet with her step-brother Sebastian (Phillippe) that he won't be able to bed Annette, a virgin, who wants to wait until love.
Do you think Holmes could have been right for this role?