When Alicia Silverstone Knew Brittany Murphy Would Be Perfect in ‘Clueless’

Alicia Silverstone knew Brittany Murphy was perfect for Tai in Clueless from day one.

The 1995 film is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. To commemorate the moment, the Guardian reflected on what it took to bring the movie to the big screen in an interview with writer-director Amy Heckerling and Silverstone published on Saturday, July 19.

Casting director Marcia Ross was responsible for bringing in key players in the film’s cast, including a then-17-year-old Murphy, who read for the part of Tai. Murphy didn’t necessarily think she had a shot at the role, Heckeringly revealed, but everyone else was immediately sold — including Silverstone.

“Everybody” loved Murphy, Heckerling said, adding that, “Alicia was trying to tell me: ‘Oh my God, it has to be her” immediately after the pair’s chemistry read. After the read,Heckerling assured the star that they were in full agreement.

Mona May, the movie’s costume designer who was also interviewed, pointed out that Silverstone had little in common with her character, Cher.

“She was already saving animals and walking around in her sweatpants and flip-flops with two dogs in tow into the fitting. She was not Cher in real life,” May explained.

Silverstone added, “I was not one bit interested in fashion at that time personally, and my usual outfit was jeans and my favorite green T-shirt. I looked at Cher as being extremely confident and having a deep, healthy love of herself.”

Of course, it’s difficult to discuss the movie’s impact 30 years later without reflecting on Murphy’s unexpected death in 2009, when she was only 32 years old. Murphy’s autopsy listed pneumonia as her cause of death, though debate regarding exactly how the actress died has continued since her passing.

“I always think about Brittany and it’s really hard to do any of this and not talk about her,” costar Elisa Donovan, who played Cher’s enemy Amber in the movie, told the outlet. “She was so talented and just had so much energy and so vibrant … just this hummingbird, frenetic sort of energy, but also like, ‘everything’s great. I got it. No problem.”

The anniversary of the film “makes me emotional because I feel like she should be doing a lot of this, like she would be doing a lot of this,” Donovan also added.

Dr. Lisa Scheinin, who performed Murphy’s autopsy, exclusively told Us Weekly in 2024 that there’s a reason why so many people can’t let go of the actresses’ memory.

“A lot of times, when a celebrity dies, there’s an initial flurry of interest and then it just fades away,” she said, but the mystery surrounding Murphy’s passing makes that more difficult to do.

Scheinin also said Murphy’s anemia exacerbated her poor health. “All she needed was to have gone to a doctor who would probably have sent her immediately for blood transfusions. Her hematocrit [red blood cell count] was practically so low at death it was incompatible with life. I’m surprised she lasted that long.”