When Nisha Ganatra signed on to direct Freakier Friday, Disney’s latest reimagining of the beloved body-swap comedy, she knew she was stepping into sacred territory. The 2003 version starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan had become a pop culture staple, and any attempt to revisit would come with high expectations. For Ganatra, the challenge wasn’t just about honoring the past but also making something entirely her own.
“It was really a big challenge with this one of how do I pay tribute to those movies that mean so much, but also make this movie entirely its own thing,” Ganatra tells Gold Derby.
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That balance was a guiding principle for the director, whose previous work includes Deli Boys, Late Night and Transparent. “I wanted to keep the comedy, the fun and the joy of switching places with your mom, which is like a fantasy slash nightmare,” she says laughing.
In the film, Curtis and Lohan reprise their roles two decades later. Lohan now plays a single mother to her teenage daughter, Harper (Julia Butters), and is engaged to her boyfriend, Eric (Manny Jacinto). Chad Michael Murray and Mark Harmon also return to reprise their roles.
For Ganatra, working with Curtis and Lohan was both a privilege and a revelation.
“Jamie is a national treasure,” says Ganatra. In many of the scene-stealing moments in which Curtis’ character can be seen making fun of her own appearance, Ganatra says it was the Oscar-winning actress who said, “‘Hey, listen, if we’re going to do this, you got to come at me.’ She really came up with all of that stuff on the spot and is just so funny.”
The connection between Curtis and Lohan left a strong impression on Ganatra. One moment in particular stood out to her while the crew was between takes.
“They were in between setups, we were waiting for lighting, and Lindsay was sitting on [Jamie’s] lap and Jamie just put her arms around her and Lindsay fell asleep on her shoulder. It’s such a beautiful mother-daughter photo,” says Ganatra. “And that’s just who they are off camera. They’re just each other’s support and love and guides.”
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis in Freakier Friday
Ganatra was also struck by Lohan’s growth and range as a performer. “Lindsay is a very physical comedy actress. I always knew she could do the verbal comedy really well, but to watch her just throw herself in physically is really fun.”
While the emotional core of Freaky Friday remains intact, Ganatra infused the film with her own sense of joy and chaos. “It was so fun because one of my touch points for the movie was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” she says. One scene that stood out? A high-speed car chase through downtown L.A. that had Lohan legitimately fearing for her life. “Lindsay just screamed her head off because she really did think Jamie was going to kill them at one point. She’s flying all over downtown LA. That was challenging and super fun.”
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