You can’t take a dime out of a girl! Sweet Home Alabama became a romantic comedy almost as soon as it hit theaters in 2002, thanks to the charm – and chemistry – of stars Reese Witherspoon and Josh Lucas.
“The city girl moves to the big city and forgets her roots” is such a cliché right now that it’s featured in about 90 percent of Christmas movies made for TV, but it only works in Sweet Home Alabama. Witherspoon plays Melanie Smooter, a New York designer who hides her origins in Pigeon Creek, Alabama, using the surname “Carmichael”.
This plan seems to work for her until she gets engaged to Andrew Hennings (Patrick Dempsey), the wealthy son of the New York mayor (Candice Bergen). The problem is that she is already married to Jake Perry (Lucas), a childhood boyfriend of hers who was supposed to divorce her years ago, but he never signed her papers. The only solution is to go back to Pigeon Creek and finalize the divorce, but as this is a romantic comedy, things don’t go that way between Melanie and Jake.
The film is fantasy, of course, but Witherspoon said Melanie’s struggles reflect her own experiences as a Louisiana-born, Tennessee-raised actress trying to make it in Hollywood.
Apparently, the Oscar winner had changed her mind, as she now shares a house in Nashville with her husband Jim Toth. “When I walked through Sweet Home Alabama, I thought, ‘This is exactly what many young people feel.’ You want to get out of the house and then you realize there are so many important things around family or people who knew you before, “she recalled in 2018.” And I feel like the film really embodies these ideas. And it was a lot of fun. It was so much fun. I enjoyed doing it. ”
Reese Witherspoon
After conquering Jake (and viewers) in Sweet Home Alabama, the Little Fires Everywhere star added more serious drama to her repertoire playing Becky Sharp in the adaptation of the classic novel Vanity Fair. She won an Oscar and a Golden Globe in 2005 for her portrayal of June Carter Cash on Walk the Line, and in 2017 she won an Emmy as an executive producer on HBO’s Big Little Lies. In 2018 she wrote the book Whiskey in a Cup and the following year she launched her new TV series The Morning Show on Apple TV + with Jennifer Aniston. They have one son, Tennessee. She also shares daughter Ava and son Deacon with ex-husband Ryan Philippe, from whom she divorced in 2007.
Josh Lucas
Lucas stopped following romantic comedies after Sweet Home Alabama and appeared in dramas such as Wonderland, Glory Road, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Ford v. Ferrari. His TV credits include Will & Grace, Mysteries of Laura and Yellowstone. He was married to writer Jessica Ciencin Henriquez from 2012 to 2014. They have a son, Noah. The Arkansas native has been dating model Rachel Mortenson since early 2021.
Patrick Dempsey
The heartthrob from the 1980s teen movie may have had his most famous role in 2005, when he played Dr. Derek “McDreamy” Shepherd starred in Grey’s Anatomy. He has also appeared in Made of Honor, Valentine’s Day and Bridget Jones’s Baby, and will reprise the role of Robert Philip in the upcoming Enchanted sequel, Disenchanted. He has been married to makeup artist Jillian Dempsey since 1999. They have a daughter Talula and twins Sullivan and Darby together.
Dakota Fanning
Then, at just eight, the little star played young Melania in the film’s memorable opening scene. Her numerous film credits include Uptown Girls, Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, The Runaways, The Twilight Saga and Ocean’s 8. She also plays Susan Ford, daughter of former president Gerald Ford, in the Showtime anthology series called The. The president’s wife.
Karice -Been
Former Murphy Brown students acted as Mayor of Hennings, who rejected the choice of melan deeply for his loved son of him. After Sweet Home Alabama, she performed in Sex and the City, Boston Legal and House, as well as in films such as The BRIDE’s Wars, Meyerowitz Stories, at home and in a book of the book. She was married to the director Louis Male since 1980 for her death in 1995. They shared a daughter, the author Chloe Malle. Since 2000, Bergen has been married to the developer owned by Marshall Rose.
Ethan’s embryo
Empire Records star played a resident of Bobby Ray, Pigeon Creek, who is crossed between Melanie and Jake. His subsequent credits include Harold & Kumar Go White Castle, Eagle Eye and First Man. On television, he appeared in Gray’s Anatomy, Drop Dead Diva, Once, Grace and Frankie, Sneaky Pete and The Walking Dead. He shares a son with his ex -wife Amelinda Smith, who separated in 2002. In 2005, she married the actor Sunny Mabrey. They resigned in 2012, but later agreed and remarried in 2015.
Mary Kay Place
The veteran actor acted as a pearl smoothie, Melanie’s mother. Since then, he has appeared in a complex, trainee, gray anatomy, promo, Grace and Franki, shameless and 9-1: lone-star.
Fred Ward
The actress in California showed Melanie’s father, Earl Smooter. Like many of his sweet castlemates of Alabama, he later appeared in Gray’s anatomy, in addition to the United States, 30 minutes or less and less in search. The news interrupted from the death of the Tremors star in May 2022, although the cause was not recognized at that moment. He was 79 years old. Ward survived his wife Marie-France Ward and his son Django.
Jean Smart
Design Women’s Alumni played Jake Stella Kay’s mother. Her film credit includes a garden state, Huckabes, simple popularity and hope. In 2019, she started the performances recognized at the HBO Laurie Blake in Watchmen and in 2021 she returned to Easttown and Hacks Mare. She was married to the actress Richard Gilliland since 1987 to die in 2021.