Busy Philipps might have a soft spot for 2004’s “White Chicks” today, but she admitted to being embarrassed for starring in the Wayans brothers’ project at the time.
“People hated it,” she told NPR’s “Fresh Air” in an interview aired Tuesday.
The star of “Girls5Eva” and the “Mean Girls” musical movie sat with guest host Ann Marie Baldonado to discuss her latest projects, and asked right up top what she thought of the original “Mean Girls” in 2004, Philipps recounted starring in another comedy that year that kept her from even auditioning for the Tina Fey-led project: “White Chicks.”
“I was jealous that I wasn’t in it!” she exclaimed. “You know, to be honest, just another job I didn’t get. No. I loved the original, but I was salty that I wasn’t — that I couldn’t even audition for it because I was filming ‘White Chicks,’ or I’d already gotten the part for ‘White Chicks.’ The filming was overlapping.”
That’s when she let Baldonado know exactly how she used to feel about “White Chicks,” a comedy feature centered on two Black FBI agents (Marlon and Shawn Wayans) who go undercover as blonde hotel heiresses to protect them from a kidnapping plot. Philipps costarred as the Wilson sisters’ real-life friend, Karen, who wasn’t in on the undercover case.
“No shade to ‘White Chicks’ — although all shade to ‘White Chicks,’ because at the time, when it came out, it was, like, universally panned,” Philipps recalled. “People hated it. It was, like, honestly embarrassing that I was in it in the industry and the world at large.”
She added, though, that time has been kind to the comedy.
“Now, perspective is everything, and I am very happy to say that over the years, I realized what an actual cult classic ‘White Chicks’ has become,” she said. “I’m so proud that I was in that ridiculous movie in 2004.”
Modern perspective doesn’t change one aspect of the movie that Phillips says has stayed with her, however. After she told Baldonado that she’s “been asked to lose weight, like, a billion times,” she added, “It was just a constant stream of losing weight — minus ‘White Chicks,’ but in the script, it legitimately says ‘their fat friend.’ That’s how my character is described.”
“I was a size eight at the time, OK? Their fat friend,” she continued.
Back to the “Mean Girls” musical, when asked about following in Amy Poehler’s iconic portrayal of Mrs. George from the 2004 original, Phillips admitted that she felt she had no choice to take the role after it was offered by her “Girls5Eva” executive producer Fey.
“The truth of the matter is, I have now been working with Tina Fey and the Little Stranger company, her production company, for the last seven or so years pretty consistently,” she said. “And so when Tina calls and says to me, ‘I have a job for you,’ who the heck am I to say, ‘Oh, you know what? No, thanks.’”
Listen to Philipps’ full “Fresh Air” interview here.
