Thirty years later, Clueless still has Us totally buggin’.
The teen comedy classic — loosely based on Jane Austen’s Emma (but, like, way more fun) — starred Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, the Beverly Hills queen bee who excelled at matchmaking, fashion, inner monologues and falling for her ex-stepbrother (don’t judge!).
Released July 19, 1995, Clueless was the pop culture reset of the decade: Everyone was quoting it (“Whatever!”), dressing like it and totally vibing with its message that pretty and popular doesn’t mean an absence of depth. In conclusion? Totally important.
Keep scrolling for a reminder of why Clueless has maintained its legacy, all these years later:
CASTING THE QUEEN BEE
Silverstone, 48, captured hearts — including writer and director Amy Heckerling’s — when she appeared in a trilogy of Aerosmith music videos. Heckerling was exercising on the treadmill when Silverstone’s face popped up MTV, and she was immediately pulled to Silverstone’s charm. Boom, Cher Horowitz was born.
“There was something so appealing about her and also vulnerable,” Heckerling tells Us. “I loved her and [the fact] that she made people love her, which is something she still does. It was her quality, not, ‘Oh, I [heard] her acting, she made this joke work.’ It was that endearing quality.”
WHO ELSE WAS INVOLVED
Stacey Dasah, Elisa Donovan, Alicia Silverstone Elliot Marks / © Paramount Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection
With Silverstone leading the way, Heckerling says the rest of the ensemble came together easily. The director says she got “lucky” casting Paul Rudd as Cher’s love interest (and former stepbro) Josh, along with Cher’s BFF Dionne (Stacey Dash) and Dionne’s boyfriend, Murray (Donald Faison). There was also Cher’s frenemy Amber (Elisa Donovan) and Elton (Jeremy Sisto), the popular lothario after Cher’s heart. Brittany Murphy completed the gang as Tai, the awkward transfer student who blossoms with Cher’s help.
WHY WE REMEMBER IT
Clueless was more than its 97 minutes of wit, heart and outfits to die for. “It was groundbreaking in a multitude of ways, racially and culturally,” Donovan, 54, tells Us, pointing to Cher and Dionne’s friendship and the inclusion of gay character Christian (Justin Walker) as ’90s rarities. “It is such a well-intentioned, good-spirited film.”
KEY DETAILS
Heckerling, 71, had to fight for a studio to greenlight her vision. “There was a feeling that nobody would go to see a female protagonist and that boys dominated what movies people went to on dates,” she recalls. She was even pitched a version with equal billing for Cher and the boy next door — and maybe they would get their widowed parents together? To which we say: Ugh, as if!
THE AFTERMATH
With a reported budget of about $12 million, it earned back more than four times that! Donovan recalls being swarmed on an escalator just one month after it hit theaters. That success led to an underrated 1996–99 spinoff for ABC and the now-defunct UPN network that reunited Heckerling with part of the cast. (Rachel Blanchard and David Lascher replaced budding film stars Silverstone and Rudd.) Aside from a musical currently on London’s West End, other reboots have failed … but Silverstone is reportedly set to return for a potential Peacock revival!
Silverstone has yet to comment on the rumored sequel, but the actress did reprise Cher for a 2023 Super Bowl commercial — and opened up about her hesitations when returning to the iconic role.
“I felt very shy about it,” Silverstone told E! News at the time. “I know that’s what everybody wants and it makes me really uncomfortable because it’s scary! Like, what if I don’t do it well? I was a little girl when I was doing that. And now I’m a woman. So it feels silly.”
A SHOCKING LOSS
Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy, Alicia Silverstone Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection
Murphy, as the newbie who gets a Cher makeover, was the beating heart of Clueless. Off screen, Donovan says the actress brought an undeniable “light” to set: “I call her a hummingbird — her energy was always vibrating. She was so alive.” Tragedy struck in 2009 when the starlet died from pneumonia at 32, leaving costars reeling.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Alicia Silverstone Szymon Lazewski/AcornTV
Silverstone went on to become a bona fide movie star, landing roles in blockbuster hits like The Babysitter, Batman & Robin and more. This fall, she’ll appear in Yorgos Lanthimos’ much-anticipated Bugonia and will sleuth for Acorn TV in Irish Blood starting August 11. The crime drama follows Silverstone as Fiona Sharpe, a divorce lawyer who, after receiving a message from her estranged father, finds herself on a journey to Ireland. Once there, she uncovers family truths and her father’s dark past, realizing her life’s abandonment story was a protective lie.
Rudd, meanwhile, has appeared in some of the best comedies of the past two decades and even landed the role of Marvel’s Ant-Man. He currently has a gig on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, opposite Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin. Faison found podcast success with Scrubs costar Zach Braff — and the pair are currently signed on for a revival of the hit comedy series. Dash made a brief run for U.S. Congress, while Donovan, whose latest Hallmark film, Soft Serve Romance, airs this Christmas, authored self-help book Wake Me When You Leave, which is currently being developed into a film.
