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The year 2000 was boom times for teen movies, which is whatCenter Stagelooks like at first glance.
There are training montages and close-ups of pointe shoemangled feet.
But Nicholas Hytner proved determined to takeCenter Stageseriously.
Nicholas Hytner set the tone of the films casting process early on: authenticity.
She had had a script developed, one draft of it, by Carol Heikkenen.
In a way that wasnt schmaltzy, it seemed to be aspirational.
It seemed to encourage young folks to go to ballet class, no matter what your body.
He came onboard and that was the beginning of it.
Stiefel:I called Larry and he just said, Were putting together this film.
Mark:Ive always been a fan of ABT, thats for sure.
I think Id seen him do something there and just thought he had amazing charisma.
It was kind of wild, from that message slip to seeing it happen.
We were trying not to fudge the dancing.
That was a Nick Hytner edict: Lets get people who can really reallyreallydance to do this movie.
I think thats when I first became aware of it, just that he was doing a movie.
And then in the spring of 99, the auditions started.
Everyone knew about it.
[New York] City Ballet, ABT.
Were the big classical and neoclassical companies in New York, and we all knew about it.
A lot of people were auditioning.
So I think in general people were really intrigued and excited.
So I think people really wanted to be a part of it.
We learned later it was a casting director.
And apparently, a casting director had already been to see the company.
Mark:We were all over the map.
We were auditioning practically everywhere.
We sent people into various cities.
Any place there was a ballet company, I think, the casting folks were visiting.
Radetsky:I originally went in to audition for the Russian guy, Sergei.
I did live in Russia and study there and speak decent Russian, but my accent isnt very good.
He in our view qualified as someone whowas a proper dancer.
Radetsky:The role of Charlie, which I eventually landed, was [originally named] Carlos.
Julio Bocca was in his prime.
There were a bunch of them.
And I think the role of Carlos went to Angel.
I dont know if he signed anything, but that was the scuttlebutt.
He blew out his ankle.
So then I got a call to come back to audition for the role of Carlos.
Then I got it, and they changed it to Charlie.
So unfortunately, Angels misfortune was I guess my advantage.
Mark:Wed certainly talked to Angel about it for a few moments.
He wasnt cast in the role, but we had spoken to him about it.
I think what seemed to occur in a way was almost a script issue.
And Sascha, despite his name, is an American boy next door.
But I didnt get to choose the time, so I was taken right after rehearsal.
I was beet red.
I had no makeup on and I went straight into the audition.
And I said to her, Oh, yes, I like this part better.
Id like this part just.
Amanda came in and combined all the qualities that the character as written required.
She was lovely and appealing and graceful and energetic.
My whole family flew in from Hawaii to see me.
And that was the first time I met Nick Hytner.
Ilia Kulik was in the waiting room.
I read for Nick, and he gave me some notes.
I remember having a good rapport with him.
I didnt hear from them again for a few more days.
Then they called and said they want to do a screen test.
Some cast members, like newcomer ZoeSaldana, were game to jump onboard.
Others, like Broadway veteran Donna Murphy, had concerns.
So I was learning but I was just very happy-go-lucky.
In my mind, I was like,Oh, well I can dance.
I think we have a lot in common.
And I was like, Yeah, I took classes.
Saldana:They knew that I was not a professional ballet dancer.
I think Id stopped dancing three years or two years before that.
So they wanted to see how I could move.
When I met Nicholas Hytner, he was just so sweet.
And that really happened.
He was like, Ill see you soon, Zoe, and I was like, Oh!
What does that mean?
Then I got the call that afternoon and I found out I got the part.
And it was my first film.
Pratt:I remember being at the ballet audition and trying to follow along with the directions.
Donna Murphy, Juliette Simone:I read the script, and I said, This is ridiculous.
I mean, Im not a trained dancer.
The script would read, Juliette jetes across the room and she demonstrates this and she demonstrates that.
I thought I should be seen for the role that Deb Monk played, [Maureens] mom.
He said, Ive seen you on Broadway.
I said, No, not this kind of dancer, Nick, not a ballet dancer …
I dont want to be the obvious fake in the middle of all this, whos teaching.
He said, But I just see you as Juliette.
And I advise them to shoot me from the waist up.
And Nick Hytner, you know …well okay, Im in.
I thought I was so bad in the audition.
I walked out after having met Nicholas Hytner and thinking, Thats never going to happen.
Never going to happen.
And then I got the job.
Gallagher:And then it became the glorious process of researching.
That was really surprisingly powerful because I got to go to rehearsals at ABT.
I was so moved.
And nobody was getting rich from it, nobody was getting famous from it.
They were just becoming excellent, extraordinary creatures that could do these otherworldly things.
Schull:Peter was lovely.
He was kind and gracious and he took his job seriously.
I said, Fellas, how do I walk?
How do I walk?
[They said] Shoulder blades together, shoulder blades together!
And I said Oh my God, thats genius, thank you!
I just wanted to steep myself in that culture and in that world and talk to as many people.
Murphy:I started [training] with somebody who I knew from the Broadway community,Cynthia Onrubia.
And we figured out what did look really good on me or good enough.
He basically created choreography that he could recommend that I would teach.
I still really wanted the port de bras to be convincing.
Pratt:I was so singularly obsessed with not being a dancer.
I just remember being in total envy of what these women and men can do.
I was really glad I had a dance double.
But shes only in one scene in the movie.
And she got the flu that day.
So if you actually watch the film carefully,my character just doesnt dance.
All they do is say, Oh, shes such a great dancer!
Theres only one time, and the rest is me doing arms.
Saldana:I had to take classes with the company.
And that was pretty amazing.
When youre around dancers, its like being around gazelles, you know?
You find yourself just paralyzed watching them.
[My dance double] was the sweetest person, and my gosh, she was so talented.
At that time I think she was the only woman of color at New York City Ballet.
Aesha Ash, Saldanas dance double:[Zoe] was a super sweetheart.
Nobody just winged it.
Radetsky:We had way more rehearsals than we would ever have in a company.
Whereas at ABT and City Ballet youre always under-rehearsed.
You kinda go out there and thats part of the magic the spontaneity.
Stroman:I rehearsed them all to death.
On Set: I Was Totally Mortified.
For Radetsky, it was a particularly panicked day.
But for others, their early memories involve less tardiness and more vomit.
Schull:[Radetsky and Stiefel] were in the middle of their season.
So the rehearsals were kind of scattered.
And to be fair, they did not need the rehearsal.
Radetsky:The first scene that I actually shot was the scene where we go out on a ferry.
I overslept and I missed my call.
I was totally mortified, like, late on your first day of work.
And she gets seasick.
Saldana:Oh my God.
She really was [seasick].
We were loving it, and there was Amanda.
Radetsky:She was like, throwing up, and then we were kissing, that whole day.
Schull:Poor guy.
I didnt even consider how hideous my breath probably was throughout that entire scene until much later.
They had a bucket right off camera.
So I thought, Theyre just gonna, you know, out me in no time.
And somebody came up to me and said, Where do you teach?
Part of me said, Well, I guess they dont know me as an actress.
But another part of me thought, Oh my God, they think Im a real teacher.
I loved my scenes with Zoe Saldana.
I just remember coming out of that saying, That girls gonna be a star.
I mean everybody there was disciplined, everybody, but there was something about her.
Stiefel:I remember dancing [theRomeo and Julietscene] several times early on.
Murphy:And thats the thing.
He trusted his eye.
On other films Ive done since, theres not so much monitor-watching allowed.
Clearly, that is Sascha Radetsky.
Clearly, that is Amanda Schull.Were not closing in on their faces spinning about.
Were actually seeing their whole body from head to toe.
Its a very Gene Kelly approach to dance.
Hes shot it really like New York is always dancing.
To go to the salsa club that we went to, and then the jazz class.
You know it has everything in it that I think a dancer really loves.
We shot atPaul Taylordowntown.
Stroman:It was quite brilliant that Nick castPriscilla Lopezto say Dance the shit out of it.
Thats become like an iconic phrase that people say before their classes all the time.
A lot of teachers say it.
And star student Charlie is still smitten with Jody (and her undeveloped turnout!
Frustrated, Charlie taunts Cooper into a short but sweet rehearsal dance-off.
Just choose a couple of things that you like doing and would be impressive.
And just attempt to one up each other.
Stroman:Id given them an acting challenge: Were going to play Can you top this?
To win the girl.
And they certainly brought their own interpretation of what that might be.
Radetsky:We had been close for so many years, and thats just what guys do after class.
But we shot that studio face-off challenge after we shot the final performance scene.
So it doesnt really match up.But its impressive.
So I wanted to do something that everyone who worked on the film could be proud of.
Radetsky:I think we all felt that onus.
But hes maybe the greatest male dancer of his generation, so it came easy for him.
I was like, Ethan, what are you doing, man, youre messing up the whole bit!
Who the Hell Are You?
By now, a burnt out Maureen has grown increasingly moody and distracted.
Who the hell are you?
For Bailey, the scene was a tough moment in an otherwise collegial experience on set.
Bailey:It was the hardest scene to film.
I always struggled with that.
In the audition it felt very strange to me.
Pratt:It was really accurate that she would leave.
I really thought that was a really accurate reaction.
She would walk out.
But [the line] is so ridiculous!
A lot of people quote that to me.
They really love it, but I cringe when I hear it.
I cant remember the particulars of why, but I remember he and I were not in agreement.
Pratt:That kind of rings a bell.
Bailey:He was exacting.
He knew what he wanted.
He could be demanding.
All things that I could appreciate in a director.
Pratt:I mean he was in my corner all the timeandhe had high standards.
But of course thats what we want.
I definitely had some insecurities, you know.
I was young and inexperienced.
But he was really good at handling that and insisting that he get the performance that he needed.
Bailey:I dont recall ever feeling like I had a warm relationship with [Hytner].
I dont remember us ever going out to dinners with him or having that kind of relationship.
It was kind of on a professional level only.
I hung out with the cast a lot.
Amanda and Zoe, sometimes Sascha and Shakiem [Evans, who played ballet student Eric Jones].
My friendHolt McCallany, he gave me his apartment in Tribeca, and I used to have get-togethers.
Wed play Truth or Dare.
It was so much fun.
Saldana:Im going to keep that to ourselves.
But there were fun times.
Schull:We spent every single waking moment on set together and then still liked each other off set.
The fact that I was able to hang out with Sascha and Ethan.
We hung out and we became friends.
We did a couple ofthe sequels.
First is Jonathans ballet (choreographed for the screen by Christopher Wheeldon).
Stroman:I think [Hytner] wanted me to sort of embody what a rebellious choreographer would do.
If Cooper were to have the opportunity to do a new ballet, what would that be like?
Like the good old MGM times, a reflection of what has happened in the movie before.
That was a bit of Ethan Stiefel.
Ive never had a dancer say that to me before, just say, Sweet.
And then go do it and do it extraordinarily well.
Schull:The end of the year showcase piece was really challenging.
But I was still very much a student.
Radetsky:The pas de trois with Ethan, Amanda, and me was the most fun to shoot.
It has the most dancing.
It was the time when I got to show a little bit of my own technique.
Because he literally ripped them every time he did that slide.
Stroman:I asked for it.
Myers:It was my idea.
She can say it was her idea, but I insist on taking full credit for it.
Stroman:With all sorts of prototypes.
Myers:We were obsessed by it.
We spent weekends just going over and over trying to get it right.
In the end, the only way it could be done was by using snaps and velcro.
You just have to make your minds up whether its cheaper for you to do this by vis effects.
Schull:Yeah, that was a monumental feat in buttoning and snaps.
Myers:Ethan had a little wooden handle under the tutu to pull.
It literally was like something that youd grab to pull a doorknob with.
Schull:He would grab onto it, and Id chaine away.
I dont remember rehearsing that prior to getting onstage either.
Schull:When we shot all of that, that was done over about a week in Lincoln Center.
Theyre future principals from ABT and City Ballet dancingbehindme?
Thats weird and wrong.
Its hard to stay warm.
Schull:The guys were just incredible.
But the starting and stopping of it all was really challenging.
We had to just jump up and dance.
My body just didnt hold out, just wasnt capable of staying on pointe for that.
It took several [takes], because my red pointe shoes were really slippery.
I kept falling, not just off pointe, like falling and slipping and falling.
Again, making it magical, you know, trying to make that last ballet almost fantastical.
Schull:And Nick was like, You know, its okay, we got it.
And I wouldnt accept it.
I just kept asking for more and more and more.
I couldnt get around that second time, and it was just that my body was exhausted.
Nick finally was like, You know, we got it.
We dont see you come down.
Cut to the final performance, and you see me come down!
Stroman:Well, she did them.
Pratt:I dont know if anyones talked about how the script was a lot longer.
They shot a lot more that was cut out.
Mark:Every so often someone will come and suggest this as a TV series.
It may not, but for the first time theres a serious effort.
The idea is to turn it into a series.
Mark:Its remarkable now how often people say, I just noticedCenter Stageon your resume, Ilovethat movie.
And its usually young women.
The fact that theyre able to remember it years later makes me feel so good.
That I was a part of something that made a time in their lives special.
Pratt:Of the films Ive done thats the one that seems to mean the most.
I mean people love10 Things, but people really loveCenter Stage.
Its a lot of peoples guilty pleasure.
I could be standing next to somebody whos a huge fan ofCenter Stageten minutes before theyll say something.
But Im very proud of that movie.
Im very proud to be part of that movie.
But that I think is what makes it really unique.
Mark:And I think its inspiring to other young girls and guys who want to dance.
And that is something I could never have anticipated.
