Freaky Friday Star Hopes to Return for Sequel
Rosalind Chao wants to reprise her role as Pei-Pei.
Freaky Friday has remained a unique part of the Disney tapestry, with the 2003 live-action film only growing more beloved in the ensuing years. A follow up to Freaky Friday has been discussed for years now, with former star Lindsay Lohan recently hinting that it is currently being worked on. Outside of the two stars, Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, there has naturally been the question of who from Freaky Friday's ensemble cast could return for a sequel — and it sounds like one star is definitely on board. Rosalind Chao, who portrayed Pei-Pei in Freaky Friday, recently indicated to ComicBook.com that she would be more than willing to reprise her role for a hypothetical Freaky Friday 2.
"Of course!" Chao explained in our interview for Netflix's 3 Body Problem, which you can check out above. "That was such a fun experience. First of all, I love Mark Waters, the director, so much. I love everybody on that so much that — I will give you a little tidbit. So when we filmed Freaky Friday, I loved all those people so much that I even came back and gave them a freebie day to film that wedding thing that kind of went viral on TikTok, because I just liked hanging with them."
Chao also revealed the inspiration for her character in Freaky Friday, revealing that, "Sometimes I got some grief about doing the accent in that. In fact, I was playing my dad, who is that lady in the restaurant. He's just like that."
What Is Freaky Friday About?
In Freaky Friday, an overworked mother and her daughter do not get along. When they switch bodies, each is forced to adapt to the other's life for one freaky Friday. The film also starred Chad Michael Murray, Mark Harmon, Harold Gould, Rosalind Chao, Lucille Soong, Ryan Malgarini, Willie Garson, Christina Vidal, and Haley Hudson.
Freaky Friday is originally based on Mary Rodgers' 1972 children's book of the same name. It inspired a 1972 movie starring Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster, a 1995 TV movie starring Shelley Long and Gaby Hoffman, and a 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie musical starring Cozi Zuehlsdorff and Heidi Blickenstaff. It also loosely inspired the 2020 Blumhouse horror film Freaky starring Kathryn Newton and Vince Vaughn.
What Would the Freaky Friday Sequel Be About?
While plot details around a Freaky Friday sequel remain a mystery, Curtis has been vocal about her goal for the potential follow-up film, even pitching an idea for the basic premise.
"Let me be the grandma! Let me be the old grandma who has to take care—who switches places," Curtis previously said in an appearance on The View. "So then Lindsay gets to be the sexy grandma, who's still, you know, happy with Mark Harmon in all the ways you would be happy with Mark Harmon … And simply, I would like to see Lindsay be the hot grandma, and I would like to see me try to deal with toddlers—today. I wanna be a helicopter parent in today's world as an old lady."