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The 1997 romcom My Best Friend’s Wedding could have turned out very differently if the original ending had been approved.
In the alternative version of the script Julianne (Julia Roberts) still failed to derail Michael and Kimmy’s wedding, but instead of dancing with her gay best friend George (Rupert Everett), in the final scenesshe met a potential new love interest (John Corbett) instead.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director P.J. Hogan spoke about why the ending was changed, explaining that test audiences hated the final scene as it was originally written — and they weren’t too fond of Julianne, either!
‘They wanted her dead,’ he told EW of Julia Roberts’ character, who make it her mission in the film to break up Michael and Kimmy, aka Dermot Mulroney and Cameron Diaz.
‘They just couldn’t understand her motives.’
Hogan said the studio was worried about Roberts’ alter-ego ending up ‘alone and unhappy.’ So they decided on a third option: having her find comfort with her gay BFF George.
‘That one scene somehow gave the audience permission to forgive Julianne,’ Hogan told EW of George surprising her at the wedding after Michael chooses to marry Kimmy. ‘Those last five minutes really made the whole movie work.’
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