Freakier Friday presents compounding challenges for its cast, as they don’t just switch places this time — they shuffle roles in more complex dynamic. The 2003 movie starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as a mother-daughter duo who switch lives for a short time, but this time they’re both swapping bodies with two teenage girls, and it’s not always easy to related. In an interview with ComicBook at San Diego Comic-Con last week, Curtis said that this was the biggest challenge for her. She said the gulf between her and her character this time around felt greater, making it harder to get into her head, but perhaps that’s the reason they needed a body-swap parable this time.
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“Teenagers are really tricky,” Curtis mused. “In Freaky Friday, it’s really easy — adult, teenager. Adults stand up like this, teenagers slump. It was so black-and-white, so clear. In this, it’s a much more subtle shift, and we had to find it with words, and language, and body behavior, and mannerisms and stuff. So, that’s way more challenging because it’s not as easy to think that you’re getting it right.”
Curtis compared this to her experience playing Donna Berzatto on The Bear Season 2, explaining that that’s a type of person she’s very familiar with, with a dynamic she can personally relate to. With Donna, I knew I was getting it right because I know her,” she said. I don’t know a Lily. I really don’t, so it was harder for me to make sure I was actually getting it right.”
Freakier Friday is a belated sequel to the 2003 version, with Curtis and Lohan picking up their respective roles of Tess and Anna Coleman. This time, it’s Anna’s wedding coming up soon, but it’s not just Anna’s daughter rolling her eyes at it. Julia Butters plays Anna’s daughter Harper, while Sophia Hammons plays Lily, the daughter of Anna’s fiance Eric (Manny Jacinto) who will soon become Anna’s step-daughter.
The trailer teases a four-way swap this time — Anna and Harper switch bodies while Tess and Lily swap as well, and all four have to learn what it’s like to walk in each others’ shoes without their lives imploding. Curtis even sprinkles some British phrases and affectations into her speech without completely taking on an accent. It seems to turn the drama of the premise up quite a bit, but we’ll see for ourselves soon enough.
Freakier Friday hits theaters on Friday, August 8th. Freaky Friday (2003) is streaming now on Disney+.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios -
Image courtesy of 2th Century Studios
