From first kisses to first periods to almost-perms, inside the making of a 90s sleepover classic.
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They dont answer as confidently anymore.
Twenty-five years later, the franchise is enjoying something of a renaissance, complete witha new Netflix adaptation.
For the former, Mayron went witha certain famous friend from the Actors Studio.
For the latter, the director tapped two of her former co-stars:Carwashs Brooke Adams andthirtysomethings Peter Horton.
Ellen Burstyn is a dear friend.
She was in my very first movie I ever acted in,Harry and Tonto.
So Im beginning to think thats her impression of me.
Mayron:Larisa had already been onAlex Mack.
She was clearly more of a pro at that point.
Larisa Oleynik,Dawn:I was into the books.
I gotreallyinto the books as I was auditioning, though.
Because even as a 13-year-old, I was like, I should probably do my homework.
I was auditioning for three different characters Kristy, Stacey, and Dawn simultaneously.
Bre Blair,Stacey:I was in the eighth grade, so I was 14.
Id read all the books.
And I was very excited to play boy-crazy Stacey.
Mayron:Oh God, Bre was fantastic.
Bre just had that Stacey kind of confidence and beauty, like she was the girl who had everything.
I would put my hair in rollers every single day.
So all the old pictures of me on set are of my hair in rollers.
Stacey Linn Ramsower,Mallory:I was pretty devastated at the first costume fitting.
They dyed and permed my hair.
It was a complete and total change, physically.
Oleynik:I very much let it be known that [Dawn] was my preference.
Her sensitivity resonated with me …
But I didnt look like how Dawn was supposed to look in the books.
That was a big deal.
To dye my hair and have those extensions in.
Maybe one-third of that is my real hair.
Mayron:Zelda [Harris] had been in aSpike Lee movie.
Zelda Harris,Jessi:I am so different from Jessi.
Shes very prim and proper, very collected.
In a lot of ways, shes the opposite of who I am.
Im a girl with a can-do attitude.I think thats the spirit behind these books and the corresponding fandom.
Mayron:I remember Rachael Leigh Cook.
She came in and she was so cute.
Rachael Leigh Cook,Mary-Anne:I was a huge fan of the books.
I was right in the pocket for being the right age for [them].
In retrospect, that was probably, literally, my only qualification for getting this job.
I remember having no concept of if [the audition] had gone well or not.
Cook:I was 14 or 15 years old.
(Neither Joe nor Ann Martin responded to our requests for interviews.)
Kristy, however, remained harder to cast.
Cook:They couldnt find their Kristy, who was the linchpin of the movie.
They tried me on for that as well.
Mayron:We had everybody but Kristy.
And heres the deal: Young womens bodies are all developing at different ages.
It was a little more layered and complicated part to cast.
And basically, we didnt find anyone.
I was pretty focused on doing community theater.
My life goal, from the time I can remember, was to be an actress in the movies.
My parents were really cautious about letting me 100 percent pursue that.
Mayron:Sissy Spacek is one of my oldest friends.
We had the same manager when we were 20, 21 in New York.
Wed both been in the movieMissingtogether.
Jack had to drive to a FedEx store in a storm and drop off the videotape.
I wasnt fully aware of what a life-changing thing this would be for me.
Mayron:I got the tape a couple of days later.
I remember putting the videotape in the machine and I just burst into tears.
She was just Kristy!
And I called the producers and said, Weve got Kristy.
Pre-Shoot Bonding: Melanie, Im Crying!
Reports differ, but it was some place with a macaroni bar in the greater Los Angeles area.
Blair:The first person I met was Larisa.
I remember Zelda being super shy and sweet.
Harris:I was younger thaneveryone.
I remember being nervous about that.
I also was super excited to meet Larisa because Id seen her work onAlex Mack.And Rachael.
I didnt want to embarrass myself in front of this league of legendary ladies.
We were all like,shes the real thing.
Oleynik:With Zelda, I think even I was like Oh shit, this girls done amovie.
Obviously, thats never happened again in my acting life.
Oleynik:We just hung out.
We would swim together, and eat dinner together, and I dont really remember any separation at all.
We were just constantly together.
Blair:There was a lot of bonding happening.
And we were all very different, mind you.
We were all very different personalities.
They all had such a camaraderie together.
They all had such fun together … and when I walked in the room, theyd all get quiet.
Blair:Peter Horton weallhad a crush on him.
Like, Kristys dad is so hot!
And we did that for every girl and character.
Id done a lot of theater and stuff, but Id never had to cry.
It was such a funny moment.
Ill never forget that.
There was something in me that knew: I can access this place.
I can do it.
I can act in the movie.
It was the day before we started shooting.
Mayron:We were shooting in January and February.
In Los Angeles, thats the rainy season.
Check the makeup trailer!
Ellen Burstyn,Mrs.
Haberman:It was very happy, and I would have to say, girlish.
There was lots of fun and play and giggling and having a good time.
Melanie is a girly girl herself.
Just flashing us to make us laugh.
He was on the set, and Sissy was on the set.
I remember my friend Candy came and said, This is the hottest set in town.
Everybody who was anybody wanted to be in this movie.
(Never forget the I just cant believe youre only 13 line.)
So ofcourseshe got her first period on the day she had to do the big scene.
Oleynik:Poor Bre!
I, too, had my first kiss onscreen and I dont recommend it.
Blair:It was terrifying!
I didnt want to do it.
And I think part of the reason I was nervous was he was quite a bit older than me.
I was 14 and he was 22.
He was this really cute guy from Germany.
I mean, I wasdying.
I was a little older.
I was onSaved by the Bell: The New Class, and Id been insome teen magazines.
I was like, Im good on Stacey.
I was mortified, too.
Oliver:[Blairs] mom was there.
And of course all the girls gave her a lot of crap.
They were all giggling.
They had to kind of restrain everybody from being on set.
I told her we would only do one camera angle.
I was like, You just have to pretend youre the character and you like him.
Blair:Ill never forget it.
It was right before I had to go do the first kissing scene.
I had the best 90s wardrobe ever.
It was like these white 90s shorts with this little DKNY rayon outfit.
And I got my period.
I did not want to come out of my trailer because I was so embarrassed.
I was realizing I was kind of a late bloomer, so I was so nervous!
And my mom was like, it’s possible for you to do this!
Im sure she felt terrible.
[But] I remember being in our hotel room, and all the girls came in my room.
They were in the bathroom.
It was Larisa in there with me, and they were all teaching me how to use a tampon.
How much better does it get than that?
Oleynik:I think Stacey who played Mallory was part of that, too.
It was a group effort.
I dont want to do it again!
Fisk:My first day shooting I worked with Peter Horton.
It was the scene where [Kristys dad] comes back.
It was sort of a heavy, emotional scene.
It wasnt like so many kids who are that age, who have been overtrained in a way.
Schuyler had an authenticity with her.
You didnt know what she was going to do.
I remember that being a really uncomfortable scene to do …
I really wanted to be the good dad.
Oleynik:The stuff with Peter and Schuyler is so heartbreaking.
You totally get why she would be so charmed by him, and you cant really hate him.
Its a complex relationship!
Not gonna lie, I didnt quite understand that when we were filming.
Theres a big emotional underbelly to it.
The bonding had been in place.
Mayron:I think it was the last night we shot.
We were at Griffith Park.
It was so sweet!
Because they did get to be that group!
They were just crying and holding onto each other and they were soaking wet like little drowned rats.
Harris:So theres rain and theressetrain.
Andset rainis usually really cold.
And there we were, out there doing it.
Mayron:It was so touching.
The parents kept coming up asking, Whats going on?
And I said, Just leave them.
Mayron:The premiere was in the afternoon at Sony Pictures, just because it was a kids film.
There was a full-blown carnival.
Mayron:It didnt make the kind of money they wanted it to make.
I have no idea [why they moved it].
It was horrible when that happened.
I didnt feel it was supported as well as it should have been.
But I know the VHS tape was out and it was seen.
Harris:We did this promotional tour through a few different states.
We signed girls copies ofTheBaby-Sitters Club, and that was really incredible.
And were talking hardcore fans.
Girls who have read every single book.
As soon as it hits the shelves theyre reading it that night, in that pre-Harry Potterworld.
Blair:We went all over: Atlanta, New York, Minnesota.
We were at malls, we were at waterparks, amusement parks.
We went to hospitals.
It was really fun.
And really wild to see all the fans, because theyre all my age.
I havent seen her since.
Shes been reached out to and I think shes just busy I would just say that.
I really treasured her friendship during that movie and I feel sad that we lost touch.
We did radio spots and book stores the Mall of America!
I mean,hundredsof girls would show up to some of these events.
I expected to have fans of Jessi who looked like me, in different shades.
Im pretty sure I could get them to come.
And I said, Yes, like!
She goes, Stacey, do the panel with me!
It is such a cultural institution.
Marla Sokoloff,Cokie (Mary-Annes mean girl nemesis):We all went there together.
We stayed in the same house.
I traveled with Rachael Leigh Cook and we had the best time.
Im still extremely close with her.
Fisk:We were all watching it like, Peter Horton!
Everyone was like, Kristys dad!
Cook:After round two ofcomplimentary margaritas, Larisa decided to just start catcalling the screen.
She would go, Oh, yeah!
Oleynik:Listen, hes a babe!
Kristys dad is a babe.
Apparently youre not supposed to heckle at the Drafthouse and I didnt get the message.
Sorry forever, Alamo!
Im probably not allowed back.
Pitre:She is not banned.
Mayron:There was a Q&A afterwards.
We all got up there and it was packed.
It was really special.
Oleynik:Listen, lets not gloss over the fact that these girls are running a business.
The concept of the babysitters club is completely genius and ahead of its time.
You call one number and get connected to seven babysitters.
That, in and of itself, is brilliant.
It grabbed me as a kid and I think it grabs people now.
But inTheBaby-Sitters Club, you could.
Harris:TheBaby-Sitters Clubpasses the Bechdel test.
We were nowhere near talking about that when we were filming the movie.
Ramsower:Everyone I know still remembers every word to Claudias study song.
The brain, the brain, the center of the chain.
It fills me with such joy to think about what we made.
And Im like, How do you even recognize me?
I could never have imagined what a major significant moment that movie would be for me throughout my life.
It really just struck a chord in a lot of people of my generation.
Oliver:So many years later, I still get a lot of love fromTheBaby-Sitters Club.
Grown-up ladies come up to me to say, Oh my God, are you Luca?
Oh my God, youre that woman inTheBaby-Sitters Club!
I was very surprised.
And she didnt even say actress; she said woman.
Which meant that it was like I was the character come alive.
She totally believed in it.
It was like, That was a seminal film for me!
And that meant something.
