Top 10 Things You Never Knew About 13 Going on 30

Let’s start off with the film’s beginning. Soon after establishing the protagonist Jenna’s character as a kid in the 1980s, she makes a wish that sees her awaken as her 30 year old self. The framing of the scene with her in the mirror is an homage to “Big,” an ‘80s film with a similar premise. So, while the movie may not be entirely original, it’s definitely cool. “I don't want to be original, Matty, I want to be cool.” While anyone familiar with both films can pick up on the connection, harder to spot is the fact that Jenna makes her transformation around the 13 minute mark of the film; literally going on 30 at 13.

With all the comedy, romance, and nostalgia to distract you throughout the film, it can be easy to miss some of the little details. For instance, Jenna has a picture of Madonna when she’s 13, and when she becomes 30, the same picture is shown to be signed by the singer herself; helping represent how far she’s come in the intervening years. Some more easily overlooked elements include the fact that the magazine article Jenna reads that inspires her wish also contains a picture of the apartment she has as an adult or that Jenna and Matt’s eventual real house shares the same color as the dream dollhouse he builds her when they’re children.

Casting young actors can prove difficult, especially when trying to match them up with their adult versions. However, despite Christa B. Allen, who plays the 13 year old Jenna, having no prior acting experience, Jennifer Garner, who plays adult Jenna, thought Allen was perfect for the role. She really thought that the teenager looked exactly like herself at that age. Allen would further prove it was perfect casting on her first day on set, when they shot her dancing to “Thriller” in the basement. The actresses’ resemblance would aid Allen a second time too, since she would go on to play the teenage version of Garner for a second time in the film “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.”

Costumes do more than just make a character look fabulous, they’re also a way of displaying a character’s personality or growth. Susie Desanto, the costume designer for “13 Going on 30,” used the characters’ wardrobes to do just that. Adult Jenna’s clothes reflect the soft colors, especially pinks, that her teenage self favored. Meanwhile, Lucy’s clothing is full of reds and darker colors, emphasizing her increased ruthlessness and foreshadowing her eventual betrayal. The character arcs of both characters are reflected visually in this way, which, despite being right in front of our faces, can still be overlooked.

While the concept of a child in an adult body is nothing new in cinema, as we’ve discussed, the specific inspiration for Jenna’s character was a source that most probably don’t know about. Jenna was inspired by the then 13 year old cousin of Josh Goldsmith, one of the film’s screenwriters. Goldsmith’s cousin’s stories of teenage angst, as well as her hundreds of different lip glosses, helped the screenwriters nail down Jenna’s character for the film. Exactly how much is derived from Goldsmith’s cousin or from his and his co-writer Cathy Yuspa’s imagination, we have no way of knowing though.

One of the film’s most iconic scenes features adult Jenna having a slumber party with a neighbor girl the same age as she is mentally and her friend. This; helps to empower herself and her young friends, as does also singing and dancing to Pat Benatar’s song, “Love is a Battlefield.” However, director Gary Winick was initially resistant to including the scene in the film, according to DVD commentary, arguing that it deemphasized the romance between Jenna and Matt. However, he soon came around to the scene and we’re very glad he did.

Michael Jackson’s famed dance song “Thriller” is a spooky delight and the rendition that Jenna leads many of the cast in during the film is a great throwback. Yet, the dance number’s presence in the film nearly caused Mark Ruffalo to back out of the movie. It wasn’t the scary content of the song that spooked Ruffalo, but rather the dancing itself. According to an interview, Ruffalo was not confident in his dancing ability and didn’t have to try very hard to act reluctant when Jennifer Garner drags him onto the dance floor.

Jennifer Garner’s performance as Jenna in “13 Going on 30” is so intrinsically tied to the film’s success that it’s hard to imagine someone else in the role, but she was actually not the only actress considered for the part. Gwyneth Paltrow, Hilary Swank, and Renée Zellweger were all also in the running to play Jenna. While we don’t think they’d have brought the same charm to the role that Garner does, we’d still have gotten a kick out of seeing them play a teenage girl in an adult woman’s body.

One of the best parts about “13 Going on 30” is seeing not only Jenna grow up, but also seeing adult versions of her teenage friends. However, the film very nearly didn’t have the younger versions of the characters in it at all! The initial plan had been for the adult actors to play younger versions of themselves. While this can work in some films, especially if they don’t take themselves too seriously, we can’t help but feel glad that the filmmakers ultimately decided against this method of showing the younger characters. No offense to Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo, but we don’t think they’d have made very convincing teens at that age.

Teenage Jenna is desperate to become popular in school and to do so, she cozies up to a group of six popular girls, the aptly named “Six Chicks.” Although most of their members are background players, two of the young actresses are now big name actresses. Ashley Benson, of “Pretty Little Liars” fame, was among their number. The sextet also included Oscar winner and Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson. The other members all found a fair amount of success in the acting world too. Maybe Jenna wasn’t so crazy to want to be part of the group after all…