However, Julia’s star power was a key aspect of the film. As Ron put it, “People say, how could it ever be another actress besides Julia Roberts?”
Though it almost was another actress: Sandra Bullock, to be exact.
“The only person the other offer was for, and I’m not sure if she even knew about it,” he shared. “She’s probably the only other actress in the world besides Julia who would have been fabulous for that role. They’re the two best people in the world to do that, but that’s how lucky I was.”
The film was also ahead of its time in bringing an LGBTQ character—Rupert Everett‘s George Downes—to the big screen .
“On top of Julianne losing the guy, I wanted to write something where the smartest, best, wisest, most terrific person in the movie was gay,” he shared. “There wasn’t anything like that in those days; this was the first time that ever really happened.”
