It's been more than 20 years since Disney released this classic film, but Freaky Friday feels as fresh and funny as ever! These fun facts will take you behind the scenes and let you in on some awesome info about the film that you probably never knew! It might end up totally changing your entire perspective! Don't forget to try some of our quizzes when you're done - why not see how well you know the film, or find out if YOU would make it out of a bodyswap scenario!

1. It's based on a book!

Freaky Friday did not begin life as a film! The original book, written by Mary Rodgers, came out in 1972. The characters in the book have different names - the mother is called Ellen Andrews, and her daughter is called Annabel. It's thought that the book was inspired by a much older story, the 1882 novel Vice Versa: A Lesson To Fathers. It's about a father and son in Victorian London who swap places via a magical Indian stone, and learn to appreciate each other's perspectives. Sounds familiar!

2. It's not the first adaptation!

Freaky Friday was turned into a film in 1976, also called Freaky Friday. Mary Rodgers wrote the script, and the film starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster in the lead roles. Just like in the book, the cause for the bodyswap is never actually explained - though the film does take place on Friday 13th! It was a big success, and actually spawned two made-for-TV sequels based on the two sequel books Mary Rodgers wrote (which critics didn't really like). In this version of the story, Ellen is a housewife and Annabel is a sports fanatic!

3. Or even the second!

Another totally new adaptation came in 1995, this time a Disney Channel original television film. This time Ellen and Annabelle (a new spelling!) are switched by a pair of magical amulets. Annabelle is a diving champion in this version, while Ellen runs a fashion business!

4. Tess could have been played by a different actress

Jamie Lee Curtis is iconic as Tess, but the role was nearly played by Annette Bening! Annette dropped out of the film six days before filming started, because she had some concerns about the script. Jodie Foster, who played Annabel in the 1976 film, was offered the role of Tess, but turned it down because she thought it would look like stunt casting, drawing attention away from the actual story. Jamie Lee Curtis was surprised when she was cast because she felt like her career was winding down. She ended up turning in a great performance, and her career is better than ever - she even won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2023 (though not for Freaky Friday)! Also, apparently Madonna was interested in playing Tess, though it's hard to confirm that's true!

5. And so could Anna!

Disney also had their eye on a few different stars for the part of Anna Coleman. Michelle Trachtenberg, star of Disney's Ice Princess, was originally cast as Anna, but dropped out due to her commitments to the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A LOT of other actors were considered for the part, including Brie Larson, Mischa Barton, Mae Whitman, Kristen Bell, Evan Rachel Wood, Emmy Rossum and Kristen Stewart (who, incidentally, played Jodie Foster's daughter in the 2002 film Panic Room)! Apparently Lindsay Lohan's audition for Freaky Friday wasn't great, but they knew she could do it because of her previous performance in The Parent Trap.

6. Anna was going to be a goth!

Anna's passion in the 2003 film is for music rather than sports, and the new version of the character was written in the script as a goth. Lindsay Lohan didn't like the idea because she thought audiences wouldn't connect with a goth main character. She dressed really preppy for her audition, but the producers didn't want that look either. Anna's look in the final film is inspired by grunge fashion, which fit her band's music style much better and ended up being SUPER iconic!

7. There's a real life relative in the opening montage

The opening montage of the film shows lots of pictures of mothers and daughters, from Renaissance painting to vintage photographs. One picture shows a younger Jamie Lee Curtis with a girl on her back - but it's not Lindsay Lohan! It's actually Jamie Lee's own daughter, Annie!

8. There are some more interesting cameos!

That's not the only family cameo in the film! Lindsay's mum Dina Lohan is a guest at the wedding, and director Mark Waters' wife Dina Waters plays the TV host Dottie Robertson. The best cameo though is one for fans of the old film - Boris the delivery guy at Tess's office is played by Marc McClure, who played Annabel's love interest in the 1976 film!

9. Lindsay and Jamie Lee had to learn guitar

Anna can play guitar and Tess can't , which causes one hilariously awkward moment when they swap bodies! Lindsay and Jamie Lee both had to learn to play the guitar for the role so that their hand movements would look right. They were taught by a rock musician, and Lindsay spent about a year practising! The audio in the film was dubbed by a professional musician, but it sure does look convincing!

10. The stars swapped performance notes

Jamie Lee didn't have very long to prepare for her role after Annette Bening dropped out, so she enlisted help from her co-star! Lindsay coached Jamie Lee on how to say "shut up!" in the particular way a teenage girl would! Jamie Lee said the whole experience helped her to understand her then-16-year-old daughter a little bit better. She helped Lindsay in return by modelling how to walk, talk and hold herself like an adult would.

11. There's a little tribute to Jamie Lee's mother!

Jamie Lee Curtis is from a Hollywood family - her parents were famous actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Janet Leigh is perhaps best known for her starring role in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, a 1960 horror film where Janet's character is (spoiler) murdered by (even BIGGER spoiler) a man named Norman Bates. In Freaky Friday, Anna's despotic English teacher who keeps trying to ruin her life is called Mr. Bates - eek! Luckily there's no murder and Mr. Bates gets his comeuppance, but it's a nice tribute that really emphasises the mother-and-daughter theme of the film!

12. Rosalind Chao almost didn't take the role

Pei-Pei, the restaurant owner whose mother gives Tess and Anna the fortune cookies, is played by Chinese-American actress Rosalind Chao. She didn't want the role at first because she was wary of Chinese stereotypes. She decided to take it eventually after realising the character reminded her of her father, who owned a restaurant in California in real life. Rosalind based her performance on the way her father liked to greet customers to the restaurant. There was still some pushback about the portrayal of Chinese-Americans in the film, though.

13. There are deleted scenes

Every movie has to get rid of some its ideas to keep the runtime down, and Freaky Friday lost a few interesting scenes! In one of them, Tess (in Anna's body) punches Stacey Hinkhouse in the nose for ruining Anna's test. The filmmakers decided to cut the scene as it was a bit too dark for a lighthearted family comedy, so the story with Stacey Hinkhouse never really gets resolved in the final film!

14. It almost had a different ending!

Speaking of deleted scenes - the film was originally going to have a totally different ending! In the final film, Harry and Grandpa almost switch bodies but are stopped by Pei-Pei at the last moment. In the original script, they were totally going to switch! There was an ending where they switched, and one where they just opened the cookies and left the audience in suspense. Mark Waters decided that Pei-Pei knocking the cookies out of their hands was the funniest way to end the film, though!

15. We're getting a sequel!

Freaky Friday fans rejoice - we're getting a sequel! The film will star Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan again, and follow the lives of their characters after the first film! It started shooting in June 2024, and will get a theatrical release in 2025!