Trivia / 13 Going on 30

• Actor-Inspired Element: As Judy Greer was the most experienced cast member with comedy, everyone kept asking her to verify if things were "funny enough".
• Deleted Scene:
  • A scene where Jenna sees a doctor.
  • Before her boyfriend does the striptease, Jenna plays a tame bit of foreplay with him.
  • A scene where Jenna goes to the diner and waits for Matt for their date only for him to not show up.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Producers insisted on the slumber party scene, against the director's wishes. He felt it took away from the romance between Matt and Jenna - but later admitted it was one of the best scenes in the film.
  • Gary Winick wanted to end the film with Matt and Jenna's wedding, but the studio insisted on additional shots of them moving into a house together.
• Method Acting: Jennifer Garner spent a lot of time around teenagers to remember how to act like one.
• Missing Trailer Scene: The trailer shows Jenna wearing different clothes at her birthday party and a different hairstyle. This alternate opening sequence was later included on the "Fun and Flirty Edition" DVD release (along with an alternate ending scene).
• The Other Marty: Young Jenna was originally played by Shana Dowdeswell and Young Matt by Jack Salvatore Jr. Their scenes were re-filmed after negative test audience reactions.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Jennifer Garner was best known as the badass Action Girl of Alias, so seeing her in this, her first lead role in a film to boot, was definitely a switch. She did Elektra right after this, which prompted critics to say she was clearly more at home in romcoms.
  • Andy Serkis as Jenna's Camp Gay editor was a difference from his usual Serkis Folk roles at the time.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting: Christa Allen as Young Jenna. Jennifer Garner says that she looks identical to her when she was that age and the two were cast in similar roles in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.
  • Alexandra Kyle as Young Lucy a.k.a. "Tom-Tom" is actually believable as a kid version of Judy Greer. Minor plastic surgery in her adulthood could Hand Wave any slight differences.
• Sleeper Hit: The film grossed a surprising $96 million worldwide, and later earned nearly $60 million in DVD rentals.
• Star-Making Role: Although Jennifer Garner had acquired a higher profile with Alias and Daredevil, this was her first lead role and helped bring her into prominence.
• Throw It In!:
  • Jenna suggesting playing Battleship when her boyfriend asks to play sex games was an ad-lib from Jennifer Garner.
  • Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo improvised a lot of Jenna and Matt's scenes.
• Typecasting: This was square in the middle of Judy Greer's typecasting as the female lead's best friend.
• Underage Casting: Christa Allen was only eleven playing Jenna at thirteen.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, and Renée Zellweger were all considered for the lead role.
  • In the scene where Jenna gapes at the thong in her underwear drawer, she originally said "What am I? A stripper?"
  • The fashion magazine was initially named 'Sizzle' before they settled on 'Poise'.
  • Jenna was originally just going to hitchhike to Matt's wedding, but the writers wanted to do a scene with the adult Chris Grandy, and made him Jenna's taxi driver to the wedding.
  • A Broadway musical adaptation was announced for 2017 but never came to pass.

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