Freaky Friday is one of the most popular Disney movies of the 2000s, and it almost starred an Academy Award-winning actress but was replaced by an actress who would go on to also become an Oscar winner. Back in 2003, Disney released Freaky Friday, directed by Mark Waters and based on Mary Rodgers’ 1972 novel of the same name. This was the third adaptation of the story and the fifth installment in the franchise, but it’s by far the most popular one, in large part thanks to its cast, songs, and overall tone.
Freaky Friday follows rebellious teenager Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and her widowed psychiatrist mother, Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis). Their relationship is quite tense, made worse by Tess being about to remarry, while Anna hasn’t fully come to terms with her father’s death three years earlier. After an argument at a Chinese restaurant, Anna and Tess are offered fortune cookies that make them switch bodies, and they have to fix their relationship if they want to return to their bodies before the wedding. Lohan and Curtis’ chemistry was key to Freaky Friday’s success, but Tess was almost very different yet familiar.
Jodie Foster Was Offered The Role Of Tess Coleman In Freaky Friday (& Turned It Down)
Jodie Foster Starred In The First Freaky Friday Movie
Jodie Foster could have starred in Freaky Friday alongside Lindsay Lohan, in the role of Tess, and though this would have given the movie a very familiar (even deja-vu-like) vibe, she turned the offer down. Foster’s acting career began in the 1970s, with her breakout role being Iris in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver, in 1974, for which she got her first Academy Award nomination (for Best Supporting Actress). Two years later, she starred in the first Freaky Friday adaptation, directed by Gary Nelson.
After a disagreement the day before Friday the 13th, Annabel and Ellen wish aloud at the same time to switch places for one day, and that’s exactly what happens.
The 1976 adaptation of Freaky Friday follows Annabel (Foster) and Ellen Andrews (Barbara Harris), daughter and mother who constantly argue. After a disagreement the day before Friday the 13th, Annabel and Ellen wish aloud at the same time to switch places for one day, and that’s exactly what happens. Unlike the 2003 adaptation, the 1976 one is a lot more loyal to the source material, adding some extra elements to fit the format and runtime. Freaky Friday holds a 71% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and was a box office success, launching a franchise.
According to E!, producer Andrew Gunn reached out to Foster to offer her a role in the 2003 version of Freaky Friday. Gunn wanted Foster to play the mother role, but Foster turned it down as she was concerned her casting would be a distraction. Foster’s involvement would have raised questions about a link between her Freaky Friday movie and this new adaptation, thus confusing viewers.
Ultimately, Tess Coleman was played by Jamie Lee Curtis, who, in 2023, won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Foster won her first Best Actress Academy Award in 1989 for The Accused and again in 1992 for The Silence of the Lambs.
Annette Bening Also Dropped Out Of Freaky Friday, But For Different Reasons
Annette Bening Was Close To Playing Tess Coleman
Before Curtis was cast as Tess Coleman, Freaky Friday almost starred an Academy Award nominee: Annette Bening. Bening had been cast as Tess and would have starred alongside Michelle Trachtenberg as Anna, but the latter had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts as she was part of the cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the time. Bening, on the other hand, dropped out for completely different reasons.
Speaking to THR, Gunn revealed that Bening left the project shortly before they started shooting, with Waters adding they kept making promises that the script would get better, but as the beginning date for shooting Freaky Friday approached, it still wasn’t good enough. Waters said Bening was anxious about it, so she chose to step away. That same year, Bening played Sue Barlow in the revisionist Western Open Range, and the following year she got her third Oscar nomination (but second in the Best Actress category) for Being Julia.
How Different Freaky Friday Would Have Been Without Jamie Lee Curtis
Freaky Friday Wouldn’t Have Been The Same With A Different Tess
A large part of the charm of Freaky Friday is Jamie Lee Curtis’ performance. As Tess, Curtis brought the right amount of maturity and a bit of coldness to her performance, but as Anna in Tess’ body, Curtis let herself have fun. Although Lohan’s performance has also been praised, Curtis’ is widely considered the biggest strength of Freaky Friday – and while Foster and Bening would have surely delivered great performances as well, Curtis has a special mix of charm, comedy, and just natural coolness that made her Anna-as-Tess performance so great.
Foster and Bening can definitely do comedy, but there’s still some seriousness to even their lighter roles, while Curtis clearly just let herself go and have fun while playing Anna in Tess’ body. Curtis’ performance was so great that she, along with Lohan and other cast members, was brought back for Freakier Friday, set for an August 2025 release, and it’s hard to say if that would have happened had Tess been played by someone else.
Sources: E!, THR.
