Alicia Silverstone recalled the emotional whirlwind she experienced on her first movie, which included kissing an actor 14 years her senior.
Silverstone’s breakout role came in 1993 with The Crush and from the moment she read for it, she wanted it bad.
“They had me back many, many times, and it seemed like I was going to get the part — and then they offered it to someone else,” Silverstone, 48, told Entertainment Weekly for their ‘90s issue published on Thursday, August 14, of auditioning for writer-director Alan Shapiro’s project.
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The actress eventually landed the part of 14-year-old girl Adrian Forrester, who has a dangerous obsession with a 28-year-old writer, Nick Eliot, played by Cary Elwes, when the original star dropped out. While the story line was dark, Silverstone was drawn to it.
“It felt really bad. For some reason, I felt like I was supposed to play this psychotic character,” Silverstone explained.
While Silverstone was thrilled to get the gig, she confessed the mature scenes messed with her mind a little bit.
“I had to kiss the guy from The Princess Bride!” Silverstone, who was 15 while filming the movie, told the outlet, referring to Elwes, who was nearly 30 years old at the time. (Elwes is now 62.)
She revealed, “I was young, so because we had this kiss in the film, I thought that that meant he was my boyfriend now.” Silverstone let out a laugh, before adding, “Not really … but a little bit.”
Silverstone, who had only ever appeared on one episode of The Wonder Years before the movie hit theaters, soon shot to superstardom.
At the time, the actress was called a sex symbol and often objectified for her looks — and her sexy portrayal as a teenage girl in multiple ‘90s Aerosmith music videos only added to that chatter.
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Silverstone told EW that she was “zero prepared” for the fame that came her way. “It was really hard, because you’re just a little girl. You’re a little person and trying to grow up, and you’re growing up in front of people,” she recalled. “For any human, it’s an awkward time … For any human, most of life is pretty awkward.”
The Clueless star noted that her body was consistently a topic, but she has learned to move past it. “We definitely did it differently back then. And that was not easy, for sure. But it’s all fine,” Silverstone said.
Although she insisted it was “nothing to lose sleep over,” Silverstone admitted it’s “certainly something that stays with you.”
Despite her ups and downs with the spotlight, Silverstone teased that she’s returning to her ‘90s roots, declaring that “the ‘90s erotic thriller is back” thanks to her July release Pretty Things.
“In the ’90s, the woman was the naughty one, and she was definitely crazy or going to kill somebody or end up dead. In Pretty Things, it’s an older, powerful woman and a younger man, and he’s the weirdo,” she told the outlet of the plot, which does resemble The Crush in some ways.
Silverstone added: “My character has a healthy relationship with sex, and he ends up being the cuckoo bird. Now some might say she’s a little cuckoo too, but I don’t think so.”
