What A Girl Wants: What Are The Cast Up To Now?
What a girl wants, what a girl needs… ah the 90s classic. We’re just dying to know what the What a Girl Wants Cast is up to now?
Back in 2003, we saw the release of a true movie classic, in the words of Xtina herself: What A Girl Wants.
Yes, it has been 15 long years since we saw Daphne Reynolds – aka Lady Daphne Dashwood, aka Amanda Bynes – met her long lost father Lord Henry Dashwood – aka Colin Firth, aka Mr Darcy, aka Dilf. (Jocelyn Dashwood was our fave, though.)
But what have the cast been up to since the Dashwoods/Paynes/Reynolds parted ways?
Wonder no more my friends, we have got it covered…
Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes)
After spending seventeen years not knowing who her father was, she headed to England to live among the upper class and became a reluctant debutante.
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In real life, Amanda’s problems in the 2010s were well-publicised. She had numerous encounters with the police, where she was arrested for drink-driving and marijuana possession to name a couple.
Her erratic behaviour online and in real life continued until she was eventually hospitalised and went into rehab.
Amanda has since started a course at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising and planned to become a designer but currently, she has been back in rehab since January, after a relapse, and is being treated for drug addiction and mental health issues.
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Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth)
Colin’s previous credits included The English Patient, Shakespeare in Love, Bridget Jones’s Diary and of course Pride and Prejudice.
As Earl of Wycombe, Henry Dashwood lived a luxurious life in a big mansion with endless events and parties to attend. The dream.
Colin is heavily involved charities, especially with Oxfam to support fair trade, and even opened his own eco-friendly shop in London!
Much like his character Henry Dashwood, Firth has spoken on many occasions about politics, expressing his opposition to leaving the European Union. (Imagine Firth as Prime Minister).
In fact, he is so opposed that he applied for dual British-Italian citizenship (as his wife is Italian) in 2017. He’s still our very British Mr Darcy in our hearts though.
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Dame Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen made her mark in the theatre in a wide range of different plays. She started in the 1950s and is still performing in 2018! Now that’s a career to be proud of.
From Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams, she’s performed in numerous plays and won awards for her portrayals. As a multiple Olivier Award winner, she was already an established name when she was cast in What A Girl Wants at the age of 69.
In 2016 Atkins took on a guest role on Radio 4’s long-running programme The Archers. She was part of the widely praised domestic abuse storyline which won many plaudits.
Dame Eileen conquered Netflix in 2016 when she played Queen Mary in The Crown. This was the second time she played this role, after Bertie and Elizabeth in 2002.
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Ian Wallace (Oliver James)
Be honest, who didn’t love Oliver James in What A Girl Wants? As Ian Wallace, he was kind, good-looking, funny, and he could sing!
Oliver James had a couple of acting credits to his name before What A Girl Wants in the television film School’s Out and in an episode of The Afternoon Play.
Oliver managed to land himself a role alongside Hilary Duff in Raise Your Voice but it didn’t have the same success as What A Girl Wants.
After this disappointment Oliver managed to get a role in BBC Drama The Innocence Project. Sadly this also got widely panned and was pulled from the schedules.
In 2011 Oliver starred in the television film Roadkill about a group of friends who run over a gypsy woman, who curses them before she dies.
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I’ve been personally victimised by Oliver James both 12 years ago and now. pic.twitter.com/VfaE2Mws4i
— nikki (@NicoleBHSW) August 21, 2016
Glynnis Payne (Anna Chancellor)
Like the other older characters in What A Girl Wants, Anna Chancellor was already an established name in the acting world.
One of her most famous roles was as Henrietta aka Duckface in Four Weddings And A Funeral, as well as Anne Hathaway in A Waste of Shame: Shakespeare And His Sonnets and Juliet Shaw in Spooks.
Whilst television roles in Rebus, Suburban Shootout and Law and Order to name but a few dominate her credits, Anna Chancellor didn’t end her film career.
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She was nominated for a BAFTA supporting actress award in 2011 for her role in The Hour, which was long overdue! She didn’t win but that didn’t stop her dominance.
To this day there is no stopping her. She continues to star in big television dramas such as Shetland, Grantchester and The Crown.
Clarissa Payne (Christina Cole)
Christina Cole aka Clarissa Payne was not our favourite person in What A Girl Wants. Selfish and horrible to Daphne, she was definitely one of the “villains” of the film.
We should all give Christina Cole a round of applause for landing the role as Anna Chancellor’s daughter and Colin Firth’s step-daughter while she was still in drama school!
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Likewise she has appeared in many British detective dramas as any self-respecting British actor/actress does. Poirot, Midsomer Murders, Lewis, she ticks all those boxes!
Since 2016 Cole has also had an amazing acting career, starring in US legal drama Suits, made famous of course by Meghan Markle.
Don’t worry that Cole will leave us for America! She still appears across many British tv shows including Partners in Crime, New Tricks and SS:GB.
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(Libby Reynolds) Kelly Preston
From being single mother Libby to later becoming Countess of Wycombe; Libby Reynolds aka Kelly Preston went on a long and meaningful journey in What A Girl Wants, after the snooty butler (Jonathan Pryce who went on to star in Game Of Thrones) forced her away from Colin Firth.
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Preston seems to have carved a niche for herself as the love interest in films. Appearing in Addicted to Love, For Love of the Game and View From The Top, she had certainly conquered the rom-com genre!
Kelly Preston is actually married to John Travolta, and has been since 2001! And they say Hollywood romances don’t last.
Preston has had to deal with some heartbreak since 2003. In 2009 her son died when on holiday in the Bahamas.
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