EW gets the tea behind the teen classic, which turned 20 this year.
Unlike other films of the era, its one that has aged well.
As Stein told EW, Its meant to be mythic.
Credit: Everett
Like the fashion, the dialogue is sort of out of time.
The music is from all kinds of decades in the past.
Its not meant to be this very realistic film in the 90s, its not that movie.
Everett
The Beginnings
Stein wrote the first draft ofJawbreakerin 1994, when he was 24.
It took about four years to get made after that.
Finally,Jawbreakergot set up at Columbia TriStar in 1998.
It was something I hadnt seen in other films.
Im very influenced by films likeFaster, Pussycat!
Kill!,Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, and evenRock n Roll High School.
Everett
It does have influences ofHeathersor other 80s teen movies, but it reaches back into those heightened films.
This is Bette Davis, but in high school.
[I met with Darren], and hes so great and has so much passion.
Everett
There werent a lot of queer directors working at this point.
And Rebecca I was a huge fan of for years.
I thought she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen.
So I was like, How did I get here?
Darren has a knack for teenagers, high school, and his vernacular.
I just loved his point of view.
And because the film wasnt made by a big studio, we were allowed to.
We were so lucky to get the film made at all.
STEIN:Frankensteinis a huge influence, as isRocky Horror Picture Show.
I always looked at Vylette as Courtneys monster, Courtneys creation.
That juxtaposition was supposed to be like Liz getting prepared for death and Vylette getting prepared for popularity.
BENZ:I always viewed Foxy as the heavy.
She was Courtneys henchman.
She was a coward at heart.
GAYHEART:It was challenging because Julie is the straight person in the movie.
I didnt have outrageously fun scenes, so to speak.
And Julie made the choice to stop being a follower and stand up to the mean girls.
I think Julie went through a really cool transformation.
MCGOWAN:I was really inspired by this 1940s film,Leave Her to Heaven, with Gene Tierney.
And that infused [playing Courtney] a lot.
I wanted her to really be that bad.
Darren instinctively knew how to play it by just letting me be.
I understood Courtney, and Im glad I was the only one to play her.
I felt exactly like Fern and Liz towards some women.
STEIN:I embrace Ferns sexual ambiguity.
People get obsessed and arent sure if they are gay or just obsessed.
They want to be popular, and people will do a lot to be popular and be embraced.
And the gray areas of those drives are interesting.
MCGOWAN:It was like, Lets all go for this big gay journey.
We wanted to corrupt the youth of America and beyond.
I think that was our intent; that was certainly my intent.
I thought [the popsicle scene] was so perverted and so great.
You couldnt have asked for a better person to force to give head to a popsicle.
And with dozens of articles praising the costuming a decade later, its fashion influence only became more relevant.
I think that it does have a timeless look because theres a little bit of everything in it.
The stockings we wore with those leather skirts, Vikki sewed the seam down the back.
I do have a few items from my costumes that were given to me when we finished the movie.
That purple latex skirt is not one of them I never want to see that thing again.
Every outfit had a really 1950s shape.
Vikki, who did the costumes, was incredible, her detail work was incredible.
I love the outfits, and I kept a lot of them.
I just let her dress me, and everything was perfect.
My prom dress was a Jessica McClintock, and she couldnt get my size.
I wanted to wear that dress so badly, and I was like, I dont care.
Everything was trashed by the end.
It fit her beautifully.
Rebecca Gayhearts was my favorite dress.
I thought it was so pretty, and that fabric was so beautiful.
I sprayed some little flowers blue, and we put those in her hair.
The scene took three days to shoot at L.A.s Dorsey High, whereBuffy the Vampire Slayeralso shot.
STEIN:It was it the most stylized sequence in the film.
I was actually concerned a needle would get left in a corsage and shed get pricked.
BARRETT:For Rose, we wanted to do white, but then I thought it was too much.
I wanted there to be a big contrast with her, especially with things being thrown at her.
I wanted her to pop out in the scene.
It became a very vivid image of her in my head.
And thats what makes the movie memorable, you know?
That was a pretty surreal, full-circle moment.
Clearly, the legacy ofJawbreakeris alive and well.
You are in my favorite movie,Jawbreaker.
I was shocked because she was so young.
And she was like, You are like a legend.
Are you still working?
And I was like, Yeah I am.
I still think Im too young to be a legend.
Im not there yet.
But they all likeJawbreaker, and its a part of their childhood memories.
GREER:A really cute boy who worked in Sephora slipped me a note and just squeezed my hand.
And I was like, Oh thanks!.
I read it later and it was like, Youre a gay icon.
Thank you so much for what you did inJawbreaker.
Its legacy is one of acceptance and love, even though its not a movie about love per se.
It was a benchmark in teen movies.
GREER:I remember Darren saying on set that he wanted to make a cult classic.
STEIN:Wow, thats presumptuous of me.
GREER:I love that about you.
I remember thinking, How do you know something is going to catch on like that?
And you were totally right.
It needs to become one.
Its not something a filmmaker can conjure up.
BENZ:But you did!
