14 Bizarre Facts About Rom-Coms That I Bet You Didn't Know Until Now

Wait, Reese Witherspoon was going to be in Clueless?!?!?

1. Bend It Like Beckham was the first Western movie to be broadcast in North Korea.

20th Century Fox / Via giphy.com

An edited version of the 2002 film was broadcast across North Korea on December 26, 2010. Apparently, the broadcast was supposed to celebrate the "10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between North Korea and the UK."

2. Rachel McAdams has played the love interest of a time-traveller four times.

Sony Pictures Classic, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures

In About Time, The Time Traveller's Wife, Doctor Strange, and Midnight in Paris, Rachel played a character romantically involved with a man who travels through time. Weirder still, her characters in About Time and The Time Traveller's Wife were proposed to in the exact same way – both characters are sleeping in bed, and her love interest slides an engagement ring onto her finger!

3. Say Anything originally had a subplot about a teacher hitting on Diane Court.

20th Century Fox

On his website, Cameron Crowe posted an unfilmed scene from the Say Anything screenplay. In the scene, Diane's English teacher, Mr. Deegan, attempts to kiss her. She rebuffs his attempts, and he eventually leaves, saying "I wish you were older." Needless to say, this predatory scene would have seriously altered the sweet tone of Say Anything.

4. Before filming Bridget Jones' Diary, Renée Zellweger worked at a publishing company to understand her character.

Miramax / Via giphy.com

Under the pseudonym Bridget Cavendish, Zellweger worked as a publicity assistant for three weeks. According to her supervisor, one of Renée/Bridget's duties was to go through newspapers and cut out any book-related stories. Unfortunately, that meant cutting out multiple "incendiary tabloid stories fuming that 'our Bridget' was to be played by an American."

5. The original ending of Pretty Woman was shockingly dark.

Buena Vista Pictures / Via giphy.com

According to Julia Roberts, the original screenplay ended with Edward throwing Vivienne out his car and then chucking money at her before driving off. Vivienne was also written as a cocaine addict in earlier versions of the film.

6. Truman Capote hated Audrey Hepburn's performance in Breakfast At Tiffany's.

Paramount Pictures / Via giphy.com

Capote wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly Golightly and was furious when the role went to Hepburn. He maintained his opinion that Hepburn was miscast even after the film was released.

7. Clueless almost starred Reese Witherspoon as Cher.

Paramount Pictures / Via giphy.com

Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Keri Russell, AND Reese Witherspoon all auditioned for Cher. Reese Witherspoon came the closest, she even had a meeting with director Amy Heckerling to discuss the part. While Amy liked Reese's audition, she ultimately went with Alicia Silverstone because "[Witherspoon] is amazing. But Alicia is Cher."

8. In 13 Going On 30, Jenna wakes up as her 30-year-old self at the 13-minute mark.

Sony Pictures / Via giphy.com

Whether it was intentional or just a coincidence, Jenna turning 30 at the 13-minute mark adds to the perfection of this movie. Thirty, flirty, and thriving!

9. Julia Stiles didn't mean to cry in the heartbreaking poem scene from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Buena Vista Pictures / Via giphy.com

In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Stiles revealed that "I never expected that I was going to start crying. I don’t know why I did, whether it connected to something going on at the time, or if I was just overwhelmed by the whole experience of making my first big movie." Either way, Stiles' tears made the scene (and the movie) iconic.

10. The Big Sick premiered on the tenth wedding anniversary of its screenwriters, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon.

Jesse Grant / Getty Images

The film is based on Kumail and Emily's real relationship, with a few key differences. One of the largest discrepancies between the film and reality is that Emily's father never cheated on her mother; in the film, his infidelity is a major plot point.

11. After Amélie was released, the name Amélie rose from the 1,475th most common baby girl name in the UK to the 57th most common baby name.

UGC-Fox Distribution / Via giphy.com

The year before the movie was released, only 12 babies were named Amélie. The year after the film was released, that number jumped to 250. By 2011, over a thousand baby girls born in the UK were named Amélie.

12. Hollywood producers wanted to whitewash To All The Boys I Loved Before.

Netflix / Via giphy.com

In a moving op-ed, Jenny Han (author of To All The Boys I Loved Before) revealed that Hollywood executives were interested in adapting her book before it was even published, "but the interest died as soon as I made it clear the lead had to be Asian-American." Luckily, Han waited to hand over the movie rights until she was approached by a production company who agreed that Lara Jean should be played by an Asian-American actor.

13. Crazy Rich Asians was Henry Golding's first movie in nine years.

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

With the exception of a bit-part in the 2009 Malaysian comedy Pisau Cukur, Golding mostly worked as a TV presenter on Malaysian shows like The 8TV Quickie and Welcome to the Railworld Malaysia.

14. Someone Great inspired Taylor Swift's most recent breakup song.

Netflix, Republic Records

"Death By A Thousand Cuts" (which is a BOP) wasn't inspired by Taylor Swift's personal experiences, but by the relationship between Jenny and Nate. To make things even better, the screenwriter of Something Great said that listening to Swift's 1989 helped inspire the film.