Freddie Prinze Jr claims director Jim Gillespie left him “psychotic notes”
Shooting 1997’s I Know What You Did Last Summer was not a fun experience for Freddie Prinze Jr, with the actor claiming that he had such a tough time that he considered quitting the production.
The slasher film was his breakout role, leading to career successes in the rom-com She’s All That, the Scooby-Doo films, and the hit action series 24. Directed by Jim Gillespie, I Know What You Did Last Summer also starred famous names of the era, such as Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe.
The movie was Gillespie’s second effort, and according to Prinze Jr, the director mistreated him as he openly wanted Jeremy Sisto in the role. “I’ll give the man this – I think his name is Jim – he made no bones about it,” Prinze Jr said on the podcast That Was Pretty Scary. “There was no passive aggressiveness, which I hate – he was very direct in: ‘I don’t want you in this movie.’ So when that’s your first job and you hear those words, it just wrecks you, man.”
Prinze Jr then said that Gillespie left him “psychotic notes”, with one saying: “Don’t leave your mouth open as you look stupid when you do that.”
“That was the exact note, word for word,” the actor continued. “I’ll never forget it. And I’m like, I’m either gonna break down or I have to beat this guy’s ass. Like those were the only two options in my head.” Prinze Jr even recalled co-star Ryan Phillippe saying: “Screw that guy.”
In fact, Gillespie allegedly made the experience so difficult that Prinze Jr nearly quit. “It was a struggle to finish work every day,” he claimed. “I was in pain every single day. However, it prepared me for this business in a way. I’m forever grateful to Jim for being such an assole because I’ve never met one like that since. No other director crossing those lines would be OK.”
As for Gillespie, his account of the film is different. He told Digital Spy in 2017 that it was he who wanted Prinze Jr. “Nobody wanted Freddie,” he said. “They thought he was too soft, he wasn’t muscular enough, so Freddie probably screen-tested four or five times. He got to the point where he was saying, ‘I’m done’, and I really had to plead with him to stick with it because I wanted him.”
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