A Robert Simonds production, Head Over Heels harks back to the sophisticated comedies of Hollywood's golden era - smart, snappy dialogue combined with hilarious slapstick visual comedy. But there's a twist, says Simonds. The genesis of the story was to take a Hitchcock-style thriller and play it for laughs. Imagine North by Northwest if Preston Sturges had directed it. A pretty risky proposition. But in the hands of screenwriters Ron Burch and David Kidd, who collaborated on the story with There's Something About Mary scribes John J. Strauss and Ed Decter, Simonds says "after the first draft we knew we had a movie. Based on the strength of the script and its good-natured approach to modem romance, Simonds was able to lure director Mark Waters, fresh from his acclaimed film debut with the darkly funny The House of Yes. "I thought it would be cool to combine romantic comedy with suspense," says Waters.
Using such classic films as The Philadelphia Story and His Girl Friday as his templates, Waters wove the story of Head Over Heels through the fast lane of New York's contemporary fashion and nightlife scene. Just as Waters was Simonds' first and only choice to direct the film, Waters had only one person in mind as his leading man, Freddie Prinze, Jr., the fast rising youthful star of such films as She's All That and Waters' The House of Yes. "As soon as he read the script, Freddie was jazzed, particularly about all the action sequences," says Waters. "I got to play this dark, mysterious guy," says Prinze. "It was fun showing people that I could do that. And I love action, particularly action with comedy:"
"In this film Freddie grows up," says Waters. "He's suave, debonair, a man of the world. And yet he retains that accessible quality that made him a star - kind of like Gary Cooper playing Cary Grant." As with Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary, Prinze plays the good natured object of desire, blithely unaware of the effect he's having on Amanda, played by Monica Potter, the dramatic actress who shone in such films as Robert Towne's Without Limits and as Robin Williams' co-star in Patch Adams. Potter, who had originally expressed interest in the role of Candi, one of the quartet of models, struck Waters as the perfect Amanda. "Monica's not known as a comedienne," says Waters, "but she's fearless. Unlike many other beautiful women, she's not afraid to try different things, even if they make her look silly. And like all great dramatic actresses, she has the sense to play the reality of absurd situations, which only makes them funnier."
The actress welcomed the chance to let her hair down and do physical comedy. "It was a good way to stretch, to show a different side of me," says Potter, who does all her own pratfalls in the film. While audiences may not yet be familiar with her comic abilities, Potter confesses she's always been a closet comedian. "Carol Burnett, Benny Hill, people falling down - that's funny to me.
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