The project originated four years ago when the screenwriting team of Brent Goldberg and David T. Wagner came up with a concept, and then a screenplay, about a high school student dating an adult film star. Producers Charles Gordon, Harry Gittes and Marc Sternberg sparked to the idea right away, and brought Luke Greenfield on board to direct after Gordon and Sternberg watched a screening of Greenfield’s 10-minute comedy film, “The Right Hook.” “I see a thousand shorts a year,” says Gordon, “but nothing as good as Luke’s film.”
Greenfield set to work on taking what he calls “a great concept” and making it his own, adding realism, danger and surprises. As development continued on THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, Adam Sandler hired Greenfield to direct the Rob Schneider comedy “The Animal,” which Sandler’s company was producing. “I would call Chuck Gordon all the time, begging him, ‘Please wait for me!’,” says Greenfield. “I couldn’t stop thinking about the project. The second I finished production on ‘The Animal,’ I was meeting with Chuck, figuring out how we could get THE GIRL NEXT DOOR made.”
Greenfield and the producers brought in screenwriter Stuart Blumberg who, under Greenfield’s supervision, infused the story with a more realistic sensibility, fleshing out some characters and adding new ones. The project continued to move forward until, nearly four years after its inception, a read-through of the script landed a “green light.”
Actress Elisha Cuthbert, who stars in the hit Fox series “24,” was one of the participants in the read-through – even though she had not yet been offered the part of Danielle, the beautiful and mysterious “girl next door” who is trying to reinvent her life. Charles Gordon, a fan of “24,” says the he wanted Cuthbert from “day one.” Greenfield was unfamiliar with the series, but Cuthbert’s read-through and dedication convinced him that she was Danielle. “Elisha was a real trooper and made a huge contribution at the table read,” he says. “She brings a lot to the character and really makes us believe that Danielle is the girl we all wish we could meet one day. The girl who’s always one step ahead of you, who will make you do things you never thought you’d do – and who you’d better be prepared to go all the way for.”
For Cuthbert, the role offered new challenges and opportunities. “The character of Danielle is different from anything I’ve played before,” she says. “It’s way out there. The changes that Danielle goes through are formidable, and her transition from being Athena (the porn star) to Danielle (the girl next door) is huge.”
Danielle is the complete opposite of Matthew, who is as innocent as she is worldly. Surprisingly, each is striving to be more like the other. Says Luke Greenfield: “Danielle is strong on the outside but inside she’s a little girl who just wants to be seen as normal. Matthew is dying to break out and have adventures and new experiences. But he gets a little more than he bargained for when he meets Danielle.”
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