Inspired by the fairy tale charm of the 1958 Sandra Dee–Rex Harrison romantic comedy The Reluctant Debutante, producer Denise Di Novi developed What A Girl Wants, the coming-of-age story of a spirited young woman who dreams of forging a relationship with the father she’s never known. “I think every young girl dreams of finding her prince,” says Di Novi, producer of the inspirational romances A Walk to Remember and Message in a Bottle. “In What A Girl Wants, we have a girl who longs to make her fairy tale fantasy come true, but the prince she’s searching for is her father.”
The girl is Daphne Reynolds, a vibrantly independent seventeen year-old played by Amanda Bynes, star of the new WB comedy What I Like About You and the popular host of Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show. “Anyone who has kids is aware of Amanda Bynes,” says producer Bill Gerber, whose children watch The Amanda Show religiously. “She’s very bright and has incredible comedic timing. She was only fifteen when we first met with her about this project, and it’s rare to find someone of that age with such maturity and talent.”
“Amanda lights up any room she walks into,” adds producer Hunt Lowry, President and CEO of Gaylord Films/Pandora. “She’s a gifted physical comedienne who radiates the same irreverent charm that instantly endears Daphne to the audience.”
“Like Amanda, Daphne is a girl on the cusp of womanhood,” says director Dennie Gordon, who impressed the filmmakers with her skillful directorial work on the hit comedy TV series Ally McBeal. “She’s street smart without being the least bit jaded. She’s kept her innocence as a very real, accessible girl-next-door.”
Raised by her bohemian mother Libby in New York City, Daphne “fantasizes about what it would be like if her father was in her life,” Bynes explains. “She feels incomplete without knowing this important aspect of herself, especially at this crucial age, when she’s trying to figure out who she is and who she wants to be.”
Although Daphne knows the story of her mother’s soulful romance with Henry, the dashing Englishman who broke her heart, Libby made a conscious decision to raise her without his knowledge or support. “Libby chose to raise Daphne as a single parent out of love and protection,” says Kelly Preston, a mother of two who imbues the vivacious Libby with her own infectious joie de vivre. “She didn’t want to introduce Daphne’s father into their lives because she mistakenly believes he turned his back on her nearly 20 years ago, and she doesn’t want him to do the same thing to Daphne.”
The catalyst that sparks Daphne’s decision to find her father occurs at a wedding that she and Libby, a wedding singer, are working in New Jersey. “Daphne has waitressed at countless weddings, and once again, she finds herself watching the traditional father-daughter dance and longing to live out that fantasy herself,” Bynes describes. “All these feelings inside her suddenly crystallize and she makes the very grown-up decision to go find her dad.”
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