Trivia / Thirteen (2003)

• Actor-Inspired Element: Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Wood chose their own clothes for the film. As filming went on, they began dressing more alike without even noticing.
• Breakthrough Hit: Catherine Hardwicke earned critical acclaim for her debut film, leading to Lords of Dogtown and of course making the first Twilight film a blockbuster success.
• Cast Incest: Evan Rachel Wood confirmed that she and Brady Corbet dated for a few years after the film, and she said he was her "first love".
• Dawson Casting: Mildly. Evan Rachel Wood turned fifteen during the shoot.
• Deleted Scene: There was going to be a scene of when Tracy first showed Evie her room and being embarrassed at doing so.
• Doing It for the Art: The adult cast members agreed to lower salaries out of love for the script.
• DVD Commentary: As the commentary track features then-teenaged actors Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed,^note who also co-wrote the film and whom Wood's character was based on and Brady Corbet, as well as Catherine Hardwicke in her directorial debut, its tone drifts between serious discussion and an almost slumber party-esque atmosphere. Among the highlights:
  • When Evan describes - matter-of-factly and at some length - how for one scene her makeup artist had purposely done her lipstick in a way that made it look like she had just performed the sex act that had been implied between scenes, the others are noticeably uncomfortable. Brady giggles nervously, Catherine seems unsure of whether to change the subject, and Nikki reacts with an, "Umm... thanks for sharing!"
  • The botched navel piercing scene is revealed to be a case of Throw It In! - Nikki accidentally cut Evan with the piercing, who notes that her subsequent F-bomb was not in the script but because "I was experiencing intense pain!"
  • Nikki Reed had objected to a scene requiring her to shimmy a tube top down into a makeshift (and rather short) skirt. When it was pointed out that she had in fact written that scene, she replied, "Well, I thought I was writing it for someone else!"^note Initially, it had been thought that Nikki would play Tracy; she was recast as Evie when Evan Rachel Wood joined the film.
  • One of the actresses mentions how their advocate^note someone on set to ensure the film adhered to rules for the protection of child actors had misheard the lyrics "I feel like humpin' something" as the much more uplifting "I feel like hope is something"... and the perverse pleasure they took in correcting her.
• Enforced Method Acting: Because they only had limited hours to use the child actors, the filming itself was quite fast and almost wild - which ended up helping convey the atmosphere of the script.
• Mid-Development Genre Shift: The story was first planned to be a comedy, but soon became a drama about teen angst and self-destruction.
• No Budget: Only a $2 million budget.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: Tracy is Ambiguously Bi, sharing a kiss with Evie. Her actress Evan Rachel Wood later came out as bisexual.
• Star-Making Role:
  • Evan Rachel Wood did have some notability from Practical Magic and Digging To China, as well as leading the film Little Secrets. But her Golden Globe nominated performance marked her real break through.
  • Nikki Reed downplays this, as the film did get her roles in The O.C. and Twilight, but she avoided mainstream cinema for a while out of naivety.
• Stunt Casting: Holly Hunter's casting helped bring the production together, as she was the biggest name in the cast. This allowed the unknown Nikki Reed to star in a prominent role.
• Throw It In!: The scene where Evie is piercing Tracy's navel and the latter then cries out in pain was very real, as Evan Rachel Wood was genuinely stuck by a needle by Nikki Reed. This was also the case with Wood's comment of "What the fuck did you do?!"
• What Could Have Been: Michelle Trachtenberg was originally set to star as Tracey in the film, but was committed to Buffy the Vampire Slayer at the time. Brie Larson auditioned for one of the girls but was turned down. Mara Wilson wanted to audition but her father was appalled by the script, feeling Tracy got no redemption at the end.
• Write What You Know: Many of the events Tracy is dealing with are similar to those from Nikki Reed's own childhood.

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