Characters / Freaky Friday (2003)

Dr. Tess Coleman

• Born in the Wrong Century: Extremely evident when going to Anna's school in her daughter's body. She warmly tries to greet the other students only to be ignored, much to her confusion.
• Break the Haughty: During their argument at the restaurant, Tess boasts that she could take Anna's high school without once landing in detention. When she has to go through the day at school in Anna's body, she discovers that the life of a student isn't nearly as easy as she remembers it. Not to mention, she finds out the hard way that Elton Bates's and Stacey Hinkhouse's vindictiveness towards Anna is very much real. Plus she finds out that the whole "you're ruining my life" line came from one of her daughter's friends.
• The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: Despite being a skilled psychologist, Tess can't seem to relate to Anna at all in the beginning.
• Happily Married: To Ryan by the end. She was also this to her last husband before he passed.
• Holier Than Thou: Tess has shades of it towards Anna before and initially after during the switch. Going through a mile in Anna's shoes during the school day takes her down a peg.
• Horrible Judge of Character: She assumed that Stacy is still Anna's best friend and Jake is a bad influence despite her daughter stating otherwise. Sure enough, Tess learned this the hard way after switching with Anna and quickly warming up to Jake as well.
• "No. Just… No" Reaction: Her reaction to seeing Jake for the first time. Needless to say, she changes her tune by the end.
• Something Only They Would Say: Anna, after first waking up in Tess’s body, doesn’t believe that Tess is in her former body until Anna raises her voice at her. Tess-in-Anna’s-body replies “Don’t you take that tone with me, young lady!” To which Anna responds “Oh my god, you are my mother.”
• We Used to Be Friends: Invoked by Tess-as-Anna when she tries to amend her daughter's past friendship with Stacy, only for the latter to spitefully use it as yet another excuse to get Anna in trouble. Tess seems to get the message after the fact when she erases Stacy's test sheet and (in a deleted scene) breaks Stacy's nose.
• The Work A Holic: If what we see of her work in the beginning and during Anna's time in her body is the norm, let's just say that Tess not having time to catch up with her family, her daughter, in particular, is more understandable.

Anna Coleman

• Almost Kiss: Whenever Ryan tries to kiss her through her mom's lips, she freaks and cites a non-existent cold sore.
• Big Sister Bully: Towards Harry, which results in him getting a thong stuck on his head at one point. She abandons this behavior after finding out he secretly admires her enough that he wrote an assignment around her and that he fights with her because he has fun with it.
• Daddy's Girl: Implied. Part of the reason she’s so antagonistic toward Ryan at first was because she feels that he’s replacing her father. It’s also implied that her father was who got Anna into rock music in the first place because she plays his old electric guitar.
• Dating What Mommy Hates: A variation; Anna isn't seeing Jake yet at the start of the film, but this is Tess-as-Anna's reaction when she sees him in person, declaring him as a bad boy who's too old for her daughter. Eventually subverted when Tess gradually warms up to him over the film's course. By the time she and Anna change back, and the latter starts a relationship with Jake, she more than approves.
• Deadpan Snarker: Comes with being a surly teenager. She really turns up the snark when in Tess’s body
  Tess (in Anna's body): [more dressed-up than Anna usually is] I don’t know why you ever wear these. They’re so cute.
  Anna (in Tess’s body): Yeah, if you’re selling bibles.
• Disappeared Dad: Anna's father died for an unspecified reason three years prior to the movie's events.
• Freudian Excuse: Starts out the movie as an abrasive Big Sister Bully wannabe rockstar who argues with Tess about everything. As we learn, however, between Stacy's bullying, Mr. Bates having it out for her, and the constant detentions she's been getting, is it any wonder why she's so grumpy? The loss of her birth father and her mother remarrying only three years after the fact is the biggest contributor.
• Growing Up Sucks: Anna finds this out the hard way after initially assuming her mother has everything i.e. a perfect life. Some of the patients are incomprehensible, the phone goes off at the most unexpected moments, and her mom's fiance is extremely affectionate.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She is a teenager, mind you. Abrasive, argumentative, and temperamental, yes, but does show a softer side even at the beginning, especially towards Jake and her bandmates.
• Not a Morning Person: It takes some doing to get Anna out of bed on a school day. When Tess's attempts fail, she calls in Harry to blow an air horn in her ear.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Subverted. When talking to one of her mother’s clients, Anna-as-psychologist has an outburst at a woman who confessed to reading her daughter’s diary to find out if her daughter is up to anything with a boy. She yells that the woman is a bad mother and that obviously nothing is going on between the daughter and that boy, otherwise, she’d be “out there doing it” and not writing about it in her diary! Proven “correct” when the woman client finds this advice very helpful. Subverted in that Anna’s advice isn’t based on any “reasons” at all, but her own perspective as a teenager.
• Teacher's Unfavorite Student: Anna is convinced that her English teacher, Mr. Elton Bates, hates her for no reason. Her mom, Tess, is unconvinced—until the "Freaky Friday" Flip happens and she sees firsthand that Mr. Bates is extremely lenient with all the other students but overly strict with Anna, and even outright lies about Anna's answers being incorrect as an excuse to fail her. Tess-in-Anna's-body finally recognizes Elton Bates as the guy who asked her out to prom when they were both in high school. He never got over that, and now he's making Anna fail just to get revenge on the woman who rejected him years ago. Tess threatens to report him to the school board if he doesn't knock it off.
• True Companions: With her bandmates, especially Maddie and Peg, who tell her (Tess-as-Anna) that they won't hold it against her even if the audition blows.
• We Used to Be Friends: Averted; unlike Tess, Anna is perfectly aware that she and Stacy will never be cool again and is angry that her mother doesn't see it.
• Youthful Freckles: It is Lindsay Lohan, after all.

Harry Coleman

• Annoying Younger Sibling: Checks most of the boxes. Balances the “coolness” of the protagonist, check. Opposite gender of the protagonist and several years younger, check. Not annoying to the audience but very much so to the protagonist, definitely check. Though it's mostly a mask, since he really loves his sister and looks up to her, but he enjoys all the fun they have fighting too much to admit it to her.
• Big Sister Worship: Despite the fact that he pesters her all the time, he really does love and admire Anna. His paper about her is even titled “Why My Big Sister’s the Greatest.” Although he begs Anna (thinking she’s Tess) not to tell Anna about it because fighting with her is too much fun.

Ryan Volvo

• All There in the Script: Ryan’s last name is Volvo, according to earlier drafts.
• Deadpan Snarker: After he tries to connect with Anna, who’s in one of her moods.
  Grandpa: Stop groveling, man. Let her come to you.
  Ryan: She’d come with a hatchet.
• Good Stepfather: Very interested in being a good stepfather to Anna and Harry. His speech to Anna (thinking she’s Tess) indicates that he wants it to be on their terms, not his. It’s enough to win over Anna, who couldn’t stand him beforehand.
• Nice Guy: A laid-back and friendly guy who genuinely wants a good stepfather to Tess’s kids.
• Silver Fox: This is Mark Harmon we’re talking about.