‘He’s All That’: Rachael Leigh Cook Gave Addison Rae Career Advice, but Not ‘Too Much’
There isn’t a ’90s kid today that didn’t grow up falling in love with all the classic romantic comedy movies of the ’90s/early 2000s, and She’s All That is among them. Not only did it earn a handful of rewards and star the fantastic Freddie Prinze Jr., but it surpassed its time — remaining relevant even today.
The new Netflix film He’s All That is bringing back all the vibes. What’s more, the streaming giant brought back some familiar faces. Most notably, Rachael Leigh Cook. Thanks to Cook’s inspiring advice to leading lady Addison Rae, we not only get the sweet tale of love that begins with a bet again, but we get a new era take on it.
Rachael Leigh Cook is familiar with the bet in ‘He’s All That’
Chances are you already know Addison Rae as the leading lady, Padgett Sawyer in He’s All That, and Rachael Leigh Cook plays her mother, Anna. However, many viewers don’t know that this isn’t Cook’s first premiere in the intellectual property. In fact, she goes back to the leading role in the original.
Stepping back to the premiere of She’s All That in 1999, Cook played Laney Boggs — the nerdy interest of popular high school star Zack Siler (Freddy Prinze Jr.). Zack gets dumped by his popular girlfriend and takes a bet to date Laney and turn her into the popular girl in just six weeks.
Aside from a few generational and gender role changes, you’re watching a similar storyline play out in He’s All That. The best part is you get to see Cook play the mother of the popular kid instead of the lover this time around — and ’90s kids love it. It seems Rae is, too.
Addison Rae found Rachael Leigh Cook and her advice ‘inspiring’
Fans of the original film weren’t the only ones excited to see Rachael Leigh Cook come back for the gender-flipped remake. According to The New York Times, Addison Rae was not only excited to work with the successful actor but ‘inspired’ by the advice she’d given.
“Rachael is so inspiring. You can tell her heart is very pure,” Rae gushed about the long-time Hollywood star. “She knows more than a lot of people how hard this industry can be, and she made it very clear to me that it’s a lot of work.”
The magazine adds that “Cook noted that she refrained from giving too much career advice to Rae at the risk of sounding like ‘some busybody old lady.'” Whatever she said, it must’ve worked because not only is He’s All That worth watching, but Rae’s career is certainly climbing the ranks in response.
The two stars come from two very different eras
It comes as no surprise that Rachael Leigh Cook and Addison Rae come from two very different times. After all, Cook has been around a long time — obtaining nearly 100 acting roles in the process. In fact, she was born on October 4, 1979, and got recognition for her ’90s roles in The Baby-Sitters Club and Tom and Huck before landing a prime spot on She’s All That.
However, fame hit Rae a little differently before she landed the leading role on He’s All That 22 years later. Acting wasn’t Rae’s path to stardom. Born just a year after She’s All That premiered, the up-and-comer grew up in the era of social media — which fittingly contributed to her rise to fame. Before even dabbling in acting, Rae was famous for being the biggest TikTok influencer. Today, she has more than 84.6 million followers on TikTok alone.
