Tough

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20 years after her audition, Blake Lively’s performance in “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” still resonated with the film’s director, Ken Kwapis. This movie was a significant coming-of-age sensation, inspired by the beloved books written by Anne Brashares. The story centers around four inseparable friends – Tibby, Lena, Carmen, and Bridget – who have been close since birth. When they discover a magical pair of pants that miraculously fit them all, they decide to share them as they face their first separation. Through this shared experience, the girls navigate grief, heartache, and newfound love.

As stated by Kwapis, playing the free-spirited and athletic character Bridget Vreeland, portrayed by Blake Lively, proved to be particularly difficult due to her character’s recent grief. During a conversation with ScreenRant, Kwapis spoke about Lively’s tryout for this emotionally taxing role, which was even more remarkable since she had no prior acting experience on her resume.

Blake walked in without any prior acting experience listed on her resume. At just 16 years old, she hadn’t held an acting job before, but during her audition, it was undeniably apparent that she possessed a profound intuitive affinity for the character. She was simply an ideal fit for the role. Her task wasn’t easy, though. As a debuting actor, she was cast in a significant emotional film where she portrayed a character grappling with heavy themes, primarily trying to come to terms with a parent’s suicide. She had some challenging scenes to perform, and she executed them with remarkable grace and sensitivity.

It’s now been two decades since the initial “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” movie hit the screens, and amazingly, the four main actresses from that classic production remain close friends to this day. Intriguingly, ScreenRant probed director Kwapis about potential other actresses who were considered for the roles and why the final cast selection proved ideal for the film.

While exploring interesting tidbits about the movie, I stumbled upon a report suggesting an alternate cast comprising Hilary Duff, Olivia Wilde, Mischa Barton, and Kristin Kreuk. This information is unverified, but it sparked curiosity about how the final cast selection might have impacted the film’s outcome. Given that the current cast members are exceptional and remain friends to this day, I wonder if choosing these four actresses would have fundamentally altered the movie’s essence.

Ken Kwapis: The difficulty lay in the fact that the four actresses – Blake, Alexis [Bledel], Amber [Tamblyn], and America [Ferrera] – hadn’t previously worked together on this movie. Since you noticed, they share only a handful of scenes throughout the film. They appear together at the start and end of the movie. The task was to inspire these four actresses to give the impression that they’ve been best friends since birth; as if they were lifelong companions. I was convinced from my initial meetings with America, Alexis, Amber, and Blake that they were perfect for their respective roles.

Why Blake Lively’s Role Was One Of The Hardest In Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants

Bridget Vreeland’s Grief Was Layered

In the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, each girl encounters real-life struggles that resonate with viewers: Tibby forms a bond with a terminally ill child, Carmen experiences tension with her father upon his remarriage, Lena finds herself in a romance disapproved by her family, while Bridget copes with the recent death of her mother by fleeing to Mexico and hiding her sorrow under a cheerful demeanor.

She immerses herself deeply in a clandestine flirtation with an older man. She flees to the beach to evade her sorrow. As the story unfolds, Bridget’s suffering becomes increasingly obvious as she grows more reckless, and this is not an easy aspect to convey, particularly not in a debut role. Bridget’s narrative serves as the film’s foundation, much like her character binds together the friend circle.

Our Take On The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants, 20 Years Later

A Cultural Phenomenon

The reason this film resonated strongly with millennial teenage girls, particularly, is because it presents a storyline that many viewers can identify with. While Bridget’s experience with grief stands out, the struggles of Carmen dealing with racial prejudice, Lena overcoming shyness, and Tibby discovering the value of life through her friendship with Bailey are transformative experiences for each character – experiences that might only be fully felt during adolescence when everything seems overwhelming yet wondrous.

Kwapis’ movie skillfully translated the book into a vivid experience. The bond between the four characters seems genuine, despite having limited screen time together. It’s been twenty years since its release, but even with some aspects that might not hold up as well over time, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants remains relatable.

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2025-06-01 12:33