The actress starred as Shelley, a former Playboy bunny who gets a job as a sorority mother, in the hit 2008 comedy
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NEED TO KNOW
- Anna Faris says her 2008 comedy The House Bunny was pitched some two dozen times before it finally came to fruition
- Faris starred in the film as a former Playboy bunny who gets a job as a sorority mother
- In a previous interview, Faris told PEOPLE the film was “life-changing”
Anna Faris says The House Bunny was pitched some two dozen times before coming to fruition.
The 49-year-old actress starred as Shelley, a former Playboy bunny who gets a job as a sorority mother, in the hit 2008 comedy, which also starred Emma Stone, Colin Hanks, Kat Dennings and Rumer Willis.
"We pitched that movie 24 times, all around LA, and on the 24th time, it was Happy Madison, Adam Sandler's Company," she recounted on a new episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast with Josh Horowitz. "And he was like, 'All right.' We didn't even get to pitch to him."
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Faris continued of Sandler: "He saw me in the waiting room, and he said, 'What are you doing here?' And I said, 'I'm here to pitch you a movie,' and he said, 'What's it about?' And I said, 'A Playboy Bunny who gets kicked out of the mansion.' And he was like, 'Okay, all right. That's pretty funny.' "
"We walked away. And then we sold it," Faris added. "That was like our last [opportunity]. There was no one else. Like, it was amazing. And then six to eight weeks later, I was on set in LA with a crew of like 200 people."
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In a 2024 interview with PEOPLE, Faris said the film was "life-changing."
"It was a life-changing role," Faris said. "Fundamentally, career stuff aside, playing a character that had so much compassion and lack of judgment, a character who really led with her heart… it sounds really corny, but I think it made me feel like it was easier to make friends in a weird way."
"That's simplistic, but I loved playing a character who was not competitive with other people, and who was really wonderful," she adds. "That made me want to lead my life with compliments. It felt like kind of a way to combat jealous feelings."
She added of the role: "I loved playing a character who was so generous with her love."
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