Tiffani Thiessen

Posted on by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

 

  1. Juliette Lewis, Cape Fear, 1991.  Among the many  – the very many – Christina Applegate, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Shannen Doherty, Nicole Eggeret, Bridget Fonda, Jodie Foster, Helen Hunt, Nicole Kidman, Diane Lane, Jennifer Jason  Leigh, Alyssa Milano, Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker,  Molly Ringwald, Meg Ryan, Winona Ryder, Reese Witherspoon – considered  by Steven Spielberg and, later, Martin Scorsese for the  teen daughter of Nick Nolte and Jessica Lange: Danielle Bowden. (Nancy in the 1962 original). Tiffani preferred her TV series, Saved By The Bell, 1993-1994. She could never have equalled the on-heat musk of Juliette’s totally improvised – and one take – seduction scene with Robert De Niro.

  2. Alicia Silverstone, Clueless, 1994.   Long Beach’sThiessen, Zooey Deschanel, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keri Russell, Tiffani Thiessen, Reese Witherspoon and Alicia Witt were up for teen queen Cher in director Amy Heckerling’s Beverly Hills flip-side of her Fast Times at Ridgemont High.   Cher says she and best pal Dionne “were both named after great singers of the past that now do infomercials.”   Said Chicago critic Roger Ebert:“A smart and funny movie, and the characters are in on the joke.”

  3. Mena Suvari, American Beauty, 1998.        Welcome to Hollywood!  For his first US  movie – for a producer called Spielberg!  – UK stage director Sam Mendes saw all the current young hotties   for Kevin Spacey’s Lolita-esque infatuation. Kirsten Dunst, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Katie Holmes, Kate Hudson  and Brittany Murphy all refused to be Angela Hayes (Lolita’s name  was Haze).  And Tiffani failed her audition. That’s not Mena on the cult poster, though; the hand and stomach belong to actress-model Chloe Hunter.

  4. Lucy Liu, Charlie’s Angels, 2000.  Tele-tycoon Aaron Spelling decided to put Aaron’s angels on the big screen  (to help generate a new series on the small). His first new  trio: MTV discovery Jenny McCarthy, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell and 007’s Hong Kong martial arts superstar. Then, Drew Barrymore showed him how to do it. with the  third  of her numerous (canny) productions. Just look at the 25 girls she shuffled to find the right  angel Alex Munday: Aaliyah (“too young”), Jennifer Aniston, Asia Argento, Halle Berry, Lara Flynn Boyle, Helena Bonham Carter, Penélope Cruz, Kristin Davis, Jodie Foster, Angie Harmon (stuck on Law & Order),  Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nia Long, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tiffani Thiessen, Uma Thurman, Liv Tyler, , Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Robin Wright, Renée Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones… And two singers: Lauryn Hill and another  Spice Girl: Victoria Beckham.

  5.  Rose McGowan,Charmed, TV, 2001-2006.      After auditions by the many, exec producer Aaron Spelling decided that Shannen Doherty’s replacement would be Rose. And not the star of his Beverly Hills 90210, TV, 1994-2000. Instead, Tiff hit the Fastlane, 2002-2003.   Rose McGowan was the first actress to blow the whistle on producer Harvey Weinstein as a serial rapist – and, indeed, on Hollywood’s everlasting rape culture.
  6. Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries, 2001.     Among 22 youngstars (Jessica Alba to Reese Witherspoon) rejecting the awkward San Francisco teenager being groomed (by Julie Andrews!) to inherit the Genovia throne – after director Garry Marshall’s (rather surprising) first choiceof Juliette Lewis quit. And so, Hathaway made her first movie.
  7. Kirsten Dunst, Spider-Man, 2001.
  8. Constance Zimmer, Just Pray, 2005.  About a wise young lad finding salvation and redemption in the most unexpected places. And people…  Plan A was Thiessen playing  Corley James. Plan B was better – she directed the moving, 21-minute short for Tit 4 Tat Productions!  About a wise young lad finding salvation and redemption in the most unexpected places. And people.
  9. Katherine Heigl, Knocked Up, 2006.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls:  9