From her iconic style in She’s All That to her big break in The Babysitters Club, Rachael Leigh Cook (Josie and the Pussycats and He’s All That) takes us behind the looks of her characters’ style.
Director: Stephanie Romero
Video Editor: Collin Hughart
VP, Creative: Alexa Wiley
VP, Social: MacKenzie Green
Executive Director, Entertainment: Jessica Baker
Director: Stephanie Romero
Video Editor: Collin Hughart
VP, Creative: Alexa Wiley
VP, Social: MacKenzie Green
Executive Director, Entertainment: Jessica Baker
Category
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Oh dear, I remember we got the giggles this day.
00:03People did not think it was funny, and I felt bad.
00:06Hi, I'm Rachel Leigh Cook,
00:08and we are going behind the looks with Who, What, Where.
00:19Oh boy, we are beginning at the very beginning.
00:23Here it is, 1995 Columbia Pictures,
00:28the Babysitter's Club.
00:30I played a character named Marianne Spear,
00:33which is, even if you only read the books,
00:36you definitely remember Marianne.
00:38She is fiercely loyal, very studious,
00:41and these things are, well, especially the studious part
00:44where they made sure to convey in the wardrobe.
00:47What I remember about this outfit is that,
00:49kind of in the classic trope of sort of prep school clothing,
00:54I remember I would roll the waistband a little bit too high
00:57to try to make it cuter and shorter.
00:59And I remember the costume designer always going like,
01:03Rachel, come on, help me out.
01:04It's a kid's movie.
01:05Like, let's be cool.
01:06I definitely thought I was way more of a Claudia.
01:09She had the cool clothes.
01:10When the movie was over and we had the option to buy stuff,
01:13I took home none of the Marianne outfits.
01:17Marianne, all heart, not a lot of fashion.
01:21Oh, here we go.
01:22Guess this was my thing for a while.
01:23This movie is called Strike.
01:26I think it has a couple different titles internationally,
01:28but this was a great, great time filming this movie.
01:32I play a character named Abigail Sawyer,
01:36and she is the goody-goody of the group,
01:39who is everyone's sort of shared nemesis in that photo.
01:45These outfits are so adorable.
01:47It was a period piece.
01:48I can't remember exactly what year it's set in,
01:50but I remember it was so hot in Toronto where we shot this.
01:54And I want to say it was maybe even that day.
01:57We had a lot of people faint, just drop,
02:00completely hit the deck,
02:01because those uniforms are made of wool.
02:03So, yeah, that happened.
02:06Here we go.
02:071999-tastic.
02:10She's all that.
02:11My character's name is Lainey Boggs,
02:13probably most known for wearing the glasses until she doesn't.
02:16I think the joke is now that if you were to remake it,
02:21which obviously they did, but this version,
02:23if you were to do that,
02:24that it would sort of go in reverse
02:25and that she would get glasses.
02:27I don't know.
02:28This is why they shouldn't ask me.
02:29What can I tell you about the red dress?
02:31I remember that it was custom-made
02:33because they wanted it to be a very specific thing,
02:35and we absolutely needed doubles.
02:38Our costume designer, Denise Wingate, who,
02:41fun bit of trivia, also designed He's All That,
02:44which is perfect and wonderful
02:46that she was able to do that again for us.
02:49She had it made, I remember it was made by a designer
02:52down on, I think, Beverly or Melrose.
02:55We went to their storefront,
02:58and they sort of collaborated on it together.
03:02And I remember that one of the red dresses
03:04was slightly smaller than the other.
03:06And I came down the stairs,
03:07and the smaller one, and I am not breathing,
03:10and you can kind of tell.
03:12I don't know if you could call, like,
03:14a single moment my favorite,
03:16but one of the things that I'm grateful to the movie for
03:19is that I started working when I was really young.
03:21As you now have a very direct visual reference to
03:24from that Babysitter's Club slide,
03:26but I did not go to my own prom.
03:28And I was the age that I was playing in She's All That.
03:32So I had this epic, fake movie prom.
03:36And sure, no one was, like, anyone's actual date,
03:39but I got to watch Incredible Dancing.
03:41I had, you know, hair, makeup there the whole time.
03:44Like, I have a sort of placebo prom memory
03:47that I otherwise wouldn't have had.
03:48And I think that that's, look, I understand the difference
03:51between making a movie and reality, okay?
03:53I'm not a loon, but that was really cool to me.
03:57Okay, here we go, 2001, Josie and the Pussycats,
04:01where I was lucky enough to be able to play Josie McCoy.
04:05Holy crap, how Lisa Evans was not, I don't know.
04:09I hope she won every award imaginable
04:12for her design on this movie.
04:13She came to me with the sketches of the outfits for the film
04:18that look exactly like what she produced.
04:20Usually those seem like wishful thinking.
04:22I loved her vision.
04:24I love the fashion.
04:25You could never wear it in real life,
04:27but that's the point of being a rock star, right?
04:29So, yeah, Lisa crushed it for us.
04:32Lisa had to have all of the pants custom made
04:35because they didn't make low rise enough pants
04:39for her vision.
04:40I mean, I think that the zippers were maybe two inches.
04:44I did keep some of the ears.
04:45I've got them somewhere.
04:48I think I got my photo doubles version of them
04:50because they say Josie double.
04:51They're not even vibe.
04:53But I definitely have some somewhere.
04:56People were so quick to call our movie hypocritical
04:59because it was covered in branding.
05:01And it was like, yeah, that's the point.
05:03It's self-referential.
05:05And you know what?
05:06Never mind.
05:06If you get it, you get it.
05:08If you don't, whatever, watch it again.
05:10When people show me photos of themselves and their friends
05:13dressed up as these characters for Halloween,
05:15it puts such a smile on my face.
05:17This is a lesser known movie called Texas Rangers.
05:21It is from 2001.
05:23It is my second film with Usher, but hopefully not the last.
05:27I play a character named Caroline Dukes.
05:29That is Ashton Kutcher.
05:31And it also features James Van Der Beek and Dylan McDermott.
05:37That was pretty good.
05:39I got to say.
05:40I'm impressed I remember that much.
05:41This, we had beautiful weather.
05:43I remember we were in Calgary.
05:45And yeah, gosh, they did a great job.
05:47They must have had a serious budget on that movie.
05:49I love that you've been in a movie with Usher two times.
05:53I love it, too.
05:55I can't wait for our next collaboration.
05:58Not a lot of people walk up to me on the street
06:00and reference this movie.
06:01Actually, that's never happened.
06:02This movie is called Blonde Ambition.
06:05It is from 2007.
06:07I play an artsy type.
06:09I think this is me trying to channel my inner Claudia
06:11from Babysitter's Club with Jessica Simpson.
06:14As the lead in this, I played her cousin.
06:18What do I remember about it?
06:20I remember that Jessica was wonderful.
06:22She is so warm, and she's kind of shy,
06:25and her family was there.
06:27And she's just a really lovely human being.
06:30No idea what that movie's about.
06:32I don't know what these Yeti booths are about
06:35on what's clearly a beautiful day outside.
06:39That was ill-advised.
06:41That I would reconsider.
06:43This is from Valentine in the Vineyard,
06:46from the Vineyard series that was on the Hallmark Channel,
06:50starring myself and Canada's own Brendan Penny.
06:53Penny, I love you.
06:54I miss you.
06:55I hope this is not the last work that we do together.
06:59We shot these movies in a region called the Okanagan in BC,
07:04and the Okanagan needs a new publicist because it is incredible.
07:09It is just as beautiful as Napa.
07:11There are so many amazing boutique wineries up there.
07:13I highly recommend a visit.
07:15What can I tell you about this wedding day?
07:18Oh dear, I remember we got the giggles this day.
07:21We did, and it was very cold.
07:23People did not think it was funny, and I felt bad.
07:27It wasn't great.
07:29It doesn't happen to me very often, so I remember that.
07:31No, this would not be my preferred style of wedding dress,
07:35but again, it was freezing, so all of a sudden,
07:39this shrug kind of moment had to come together.
07:43Very Mother of the Bride vibes.
07:45Not really feeling it, but again, very fun day.
07:48Too fun, apparently.
07:50Here we go!
07:52Aww!
07:53Hi, Addison.
07:54You little sweetheart.
07:55This is 2021, my first foray into the mom roles in earnest.
08:01This is He's All That, remake of She's All That,
08:04where I play Anna Sawyer,
08:06mom of Padgett Sawyer, played by none other than the Internet's Addison Rae,
08:12who is such a lovely young human.
08:14Nothing but respect for her kindness and professionalism,
08:18and directed by Mark Waters,
08:20who I was reunited with after working with him on a movie called House of Yes,
08:25which is where I first met Freddie Prinze Jr.
08:27Full circle moment.
08:29There it goes.
08:30I hope this doesn't seem like a reflection of a massive ego or something,
08:34but I remember going for my wardrobe fitting on this, again,
08:37with Denise Wingate,
08:39and that kind of did my head in a little bit.
08:42But I went, and they were already into production,
08:45and I remember thinking,
08:47all these trucks are here because we made a movie that people liked 20 years ago,
08:52more than 20 years ago.
08:54How crazy is that?
08:55I don't know.
08:56It seemed like I choose to take it as a gigantic compliment.
09:02That's what I'm going with.
09:05Ah, here we go.
09:06We are right up to date.
09:092023, A Tourist's Guide to Love.
09:12My character is Amanda Riley.
09:14And I straight up told our costume designer,
09:18I do not want to hear it with your reality of what people would wear when traveling.
09:24I was like, we are Carrie Bradshaw traveling over here.
09:27We are aspirational traveling.
09:29And, yeah, I think that the fashion of this movie is absolutely beautiful.
09:34I'm incredibly happy with the way it came out.
09:36Val Halverson absolutely knocked this out of the park.
09:40She also did my first Netflix movie, Love Guaranteed,
09:43and I will work with her every time she will have me.
09:46Oh, my goodness.
09:48Thank you Who What Wear for that trip down memory lane.
09:51Please tell me your favorite looks below.
09:53And, yeah, I hope you will join us for A Tourist's Guide to Love only on Netflix.
09:59Bye.
10:00Bye.