See the stars 22 years later

Lindsay Lohan as Anna Coleman

Lindsay Lohan led Freaky Friday as teenager Anna Coleman, an aspiring pop-punker who can’t stop arguing with her widowed mother, Tess (Curtis). After cracking open magical fortune cookies given to them at a Chinese restaurant, Anna and Tess wake up the next morning to discover they’ve switched bodies.

„I feel like people are going to see the Lindsay that has that twinkle in her eye, is a little mischievous, has a big f—ing heart, and makes you smile while watching her,“ Ganatra said in EW’s Freakier Friday cover story. „It’s not just the nostalgia of, ‘It’s Anna again!’ It’s Lindsay doing what we love watching Lindsay do.“

EW’s critic made a similar observation in her review, lauding Lohan as „the film’s heart and soul“ and noting how the „ease, maturity, and comedic timing of her child star years are, at last, back in full force.“

Lohan’s career has indeed had its fair share of setbacks. Following child stardom on The Parent Trap (1998), her profile skyrocketed with 2004’s Mean Girls, elevating her to the A-list while also making her a tabloid fixture. Her success led to starring roles in projects like Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), Just My Luck (2006), and Georgia Rule (2007), not to mention a budding career as a pop star.

Around 2007, however, Lohan’s career was imperiled amid a variety of legal issues and court-mandated rehab stints to address her struggles with alcohol and drugs. Between 2007 and 2013, she was given jail time on numerous occasions, but never spent more than two weeks behind bars.

Scandal followed Lohan throughout the 2010s, but the actress continued to take on leading roles in films such as Liz & Dick (2012) and The Canyons (2013), as well as guest spots on series like Glee (2012) and 2 Broke Girls (2014).

She also led two reality shows: OWN’s Lindsay (2014) and MTV’s Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club (2019), the latter following the staff at a beach club she’d helped open in Mykonos, Greece. Both shows only lasted one season.

In 2021, she announced her engagement to her current husband, financier Bader Shammas. The pair wed in 2022 and welcomed a child in 2023. Around this time, she signed a three-picture Netflix deal, which led to romantic comedies like Falling for Christmas (2022), Irish Wish (2024), and Our Little Secret (2024).

Next up for Lohan is a Hulu series adaptation of Sophie Stava’s novel Count My Lies.

Jamie Lee Curtis as Tess Coleman

Jamie Lee Curtis was fresh off the first revival of the Halloween franchise — 1998’s Halloween H20 and 2002’s Halloween Resurrection — when she starred as widowed psychiatrist Tess Coleman in Freaky Friday.

It was Curtis who pushed for a Freaky Friday sequel, pitching the idea to both Lohan and Disney boss Bob Iger. „In every country I went to [promote Halloween Ends], the only consistent question I got was ‘When are you making another Freaky Friday?'“ she told EW for our Freakier Friday cover story. „I called [Lohan] on the road at one point and said, ‘This is all people are asking,’ Clearly, there was an appetite for this.“

Curtis, the daughter of actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis, has been a screen icon for nearly half a century, having made her feature debut in John Carpenter’s 1977 classic Halloween. She’s played Laurie Strode in six more Halloween movies in the years since.

Though she’s always been respected — and won Golden Globes in 1990 and 1995 for Anything But Love and True Lies, respectively — Curtis has become something of an awards favorite in recent years.

In 2023, she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her turn in the hugely successful Everything Everywhere All At Once, and has since won an Emmy for her role as Donna Berzatto on FX hit The Bear (2023–present).

Curtis, who has been married to actor and filmmaker Christopher Guest since 1984, will next lead the upcoming Ella McCay, the latest film from James L. Brooks. She’s also set to lead a Murder, She Wrote film adaptation.

Chad Michael Murray as Jake

Chad Michael Murray charmed audiences in the original Freaky Friday as Anna’s crush, Jake, a role he returns to in Freakier Friday.

„When I asked the question, ‘Where has he been?’ I always thought Jake had a room somewhere, in the closet of his house, where he’s got this wonderful Tess shrine, and that he’s been in love with her and he keeps a faded photo of her in his wallet, but he still loves it and opens it up from time to time and touches it,“ Murray told EW ahead of the sequel’s release. „That was all part of the backstory that was going along with who Jake is in this fantasy world that he’s put himself in.“

All that backstory paid off. EW’s critic praised Murray’s Freakier Friday performance for embodying the „same oblivious charm and golden retriever energy that made him so winning two decades ago.“

Jake isn’t the only hunk on Murray’s long resume. Throughout the 2000s, the actor smoldered on series like Gilmore Girls (2000–2001), Dawson’s Creek (2001–2002), and One Tree Hill (2003–2012), not to mention the films A Cinderella Story (2004) and House of Wax (2005).

Following his six-season stint on One Tree Hill, Murray starred on Chosen (2013–2014), Agent Carter (2015–2016), and Riverdale (2019), among other buzzy series. Since 2023, he’s featured on the Robyn Carr adaptation Sullivan’s Crossing (2023–present) on The CW.

Murrary shares three children with his wife, Chosen actress Sarah Roemer.

Mark Harmon as Ryan Volvo

Mark Harmon costarred in Freaky Friday as the hilariously-named Ryan Volvo, Tess’ fiancé. He reprises the role in Freakier Friday, „ever steadfast and supportive of her whirling dervish personality,“ per EW’s review.

„It’s comfortable with Jamie and always has been. I’ve known her since she was 15 or 16,“ Harmon said of working on the franchise in a 2024 chat with The Hollywood Reporter. „Obviously, it’s a different story now, and yet I enjoy time with her. When you look at the long form of life, you’re talking about moments with people and sharing them and being with people you liked being with. That’s always been true about her for me, so I was pleased to do that.“

Harmon, a former college football star, has been a familiar face on TV and in film since the 1970s. We’ll forever be obsessed with his winning turn as the shaggy Mr. Shoop in the 1987 comedy Summer School, but he’s best-known as NCIS special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a role he played on the CBS procedural from 2003 to 2021 (and recently reprised on NCIS: Origins).

The actor has been married to his wife, actress Pam Dawber, since 1987. They share two sons.

Stephen Tobolowsky as Mr. Elton Bates

Stephen Tobolowsky played the monstrous Mr. Bates, Anna’s English teacher and Tess’ former classmate, in Freaky Friday. He reprises the role in the sequel.

In a recent interview with the Dallas Morning News, Tobolowsky opened up about his former teachers who inspired Mr. Bates. „Several teachers at Kimball [High School]. My physics teacher, Melvin Moses. There’s a little bit of Mr. Bates in him. My algebra teacher. They both fancied themselves as kind of humorous, but we were always so scared of them because they were so strict,“ he said.

Tobolowsky is one of Hollywood’s quintessential „that guy“ actors, not to mention a consummate storyteller. He even started a podcast, The Tobolowsky Files, in which he rhapsodizes about his highs and lows in the industry.

Of the actor’s many, many film roles, some highlights include the unnerving Clayton Townley in Mississippi Burning (1988), Ned „The Head“ Ryerson in Groundhog Day (1993), and the amnesiac Sammy Jankis in Christopher Nolan’s breakout, Memento (2000).

He’s also a force on the small screen, with memorable turns on Deadwood (2005–2006), Glee (2009–2011), Californication (2011–2014), and The Goldbergs (2014–2023). Most recently, he played a rabbi on the 2024 Netflix hit Nobody Wants This.

Christina Vidal as Maddie

Puerto Rican actress Christina Vidal rocked out as Maddie, Anna’s bandmate in Freaky Friday‘s Avril Lavigne-inspired band Pink Slip. Fans of the band — and there are many — will be thrilled to know that Pink Slip reunites in Freakier Friday.

„It’s almost like no time passed,“ Vidal told Billboard of reuniting with Lohan and costar/bandmate Haley Hudson. „When we first saw each other was just kind of like, ‘Oh man, I feel like we just did this’… I think there’s a natural chemistry, too, with us. Like performing and just, like, being friends, we always got along on set.“

A child actor who debuted opposite Michael J. Fox in 1993’s Life With Mikey, Vidal followed Freaky Friday with guest spots on popular shows like ER (2007), House (2009–2010), and Code Black (2015–2016).

Over the past decade, the actress has landed leading roles on CBS’s Training Day series (2017), the Chris Pratt-starring The Terminal List (2022), and Primo (2023).

Haley Hudson as Peg

Haley Hudson rounded out Pink Slip’s trifecta of pop-punk powerhouses in Freaky Friday, and returns for an encore in the sequel.

Hudson, a talented musician and singer, recently started the band Hudson Rubin with Danny Rubin, who plays Pink Slip’s bassist in the films.

„We’re not a fictional band anymore, because two of us actually became a real band,“ she told Billboard. „We’re just really focusing on our music, and they actually used one of our songs in the movie, so we’re really excited about that.“

Freakier Friday will be Hudson’s first onscreen acting role in more than a decade, though she appeared in several films and series throughout the 2000s and early 2010s. She starred in the found-footage film Look (2007) and an accompanying series that aired on Showtime in 2010. She also appeared in the 2012 horror film The Pact, as well as its 2014 sequel.

Harold Gould as Alan Coleman

Five-time Emmy nominee Harold Gould was well-known for his runs on sitcoms like Rhoda (1974–1978) and The Golden Girls (1985–1992) when he appeared in Freaky Friday as Anna’s earthquake-fearing grandpa, Alan.

Gould’s long screen career began in earnest in the early 1960s. He went on to feature in more than 300 TV shows, as well as movies from acclaimed filmmakers like Billy Wilder (The Front Page), Mel Brooks (Silent Movie), Woody Allen (Love and Death), George Roy Hill (The Sting), and Jonathan Demme (Beloved).

Freaky Friday was among his final screen roles. Prior to his 2010 death at age 86 from prostate cancer, Gould lent his voice to films like Brother Bear (2003) and Whisper of the Heart (2010). He has also guested on episodes of Cold Case (2008) and Nip/Tuck (2010).

Ryan Malgarini as Harry Coleman

Ryan Malgarini had barely hit double digits when he costarred in Freaky Friday as Anna’s younger brother Harry, a role he reprises in the sequel.

Waters praised Malgarini in a 2023 oral history of the film from The Hollywood Reporter. „Ryan Malgarini was just great. He was just so f—ing funny. He just looked super young for his age,“ he said. „It’s always a benefit when you’re casting a kid, where you cast somebody who’s, like, 8 years old to play a 6-year-old, so you get that intelligence, but he still looks like a kid.“

Malgarini went on to costar in How to Eat Fried Worms (2006) and help lead the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried (2008–2010). He also guested on popular series like Mike & Molly (2011), Bones (2013), Fresh Off the Boat (2015), and Mom (2018).

Julie Gonzalo as Stacey Hinkhouse

In Freaky Friday, Julie Gonzalo played the venemous Stacey Hinkhouse, Anna’s one-time best friend and current bully.

Gonzalo’s enjoyed a fruitful career in the decades since Freaky Friday‘s release, with notable turns on Veronica Mars (2006–2007), Dallas (2012–2014), and Supergirl (2019–2021). In 2005, she reunited with Murray for A Cinderella Story, and also appeared in Dodgeball: An Underdog Story (2004) and Must Love Dogs (2005).

These days, she’s a regular on the Hallmark Channel, having starred in films like Cut, Color, Murder (2022) and Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane (2024).

In 2022, Gonzalo gave birth to a son, whom she shares with her partner (and Hallmark Channel costar) Chris McNally.

Willie Garson as Evan

Willie Garson brought ample laughs in Freaky Friday as Evan, an excitable patient of Curtis’ Tess.

The prolific Garson appeared in dozens upon dozens of films and series throughout his 25-year career, most notably as the witty and fashionable Stanford Blatch on Sex and the City (1998–2004), And Just Like That (2021), and the franchise’s 2008 and 2010 films.

You may also recognize him as con man Mozzie on White Collar (2009–2014) and as Gerard Hirsch on Hawaii Five-0 (2015–2020).

In 2008, Garson adopted a 7-year-old child, Nathen. „Listen, I’m a narcissistic, entitled, spoiled actor, so my entire life has been focused on myself until the moment I met Nathan,“ Garson told PEOPLE in 2020. „And then it wasn’t, and it’s a better life.“

Garson died of pancreatic cancer on Sept. 21, 2021, at the age of 57.

„You always were the toughest and funniest and smartest person I’ve known,“ Nathen wrote in a tribute to his father on Instagram. „I’m glad you shared you’re love with me. I’ll never forget it or lose it.“

Rosalind Chao as Pei-Pei

Rosalind Chao helped set the events of Freaky Friday into motion, as it was a magic fortune cookie at her character’s Chinese restaurant that led to the body swap.

In the decades since its release, however, many have characterized that element of the story as culturally insensitive. Chao even addressed her initial trepidation to take the role in The Hollywood Reporter‘s oral history of the film.

„I saw the part, and at first I thought, ‘Oh God, I don’t want to do you know, the whole Chinese [thing].’ I just had feelings about it,“ she said, „but then I always try and flip the script, and I thought, ‘Wait, what am I talking about?’ I grew up in a Chinese restaurant. My dad really was that guy… he had an accent, but he thought he had no accent.“

For the remake, Ganatra told EW she sought to address some of the original film’s „stereotypes that were hurtful.“

„I remember watching it and feeling torn, mostly about the Asian representation, and also the soundtrack that was being used [in the scenes at the restaurant],“ she said. „It was something I brought up right away when I had my first meetings with the producers. I had a moment of the presentation that was like, ‘problematic Asian representation!'“

You won’t find any magic fortune cookies in Freakier Friday, but you will see the return of Chao’s Pei-Pei.

As for Chao, she’d been acting for decades before appearing in Freaky Friday, with turns on Diff’rent Strokes (1981–1983), AfterMASH (1983–1985), and, most memorably, as botanist Keiko O’Brien on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991–1992) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993–1999).

In recent years, she’s played key roles on two different Netflix series: Sweet Tooth (2023–2024) and 3 Body Problem (2024).

Chao recently celebrated an anniversary with her husband, actor Simon Templeman.

Lucille Soong as Pei-Pei’s mother

Lucille Soong played Pei-Pei’s mother in Freaky Friday, and returns to the role in Freakier Friday.

Soong, a veteran actress with credits spanning back to the early 1960s, appeared with her Freaky Friday costar Chao in the 1993 hit The Joy Luck Club.

Following Freaky Friday, Soong enjoyed memorable runs on Desperate Housewives (2004–2009) and as Grandma Huang on all six seasons of NBC’s Fresh Off the Boat (2015–2020).