Why Alicia Silverstone Said Yes To The Baby-Sitters Club Reboot On Netflix
It's said that Alicia Silverstone was paid between $4 and $8 million for Clueless, and she is always associated with the role of Cher Horowitz. She hasn't acted much in recent years, besides the TV series American Woman and Miss Match plus a few movies here and there.
That's why it was exciting news that Silverstone had been cast as Kristy's mother Elizabeth Thomas-Brewer in the Netflix reboot of The Baby-Sitters Club. While the roles are different, as Cher is a Valley Girl who learns to think more about inner beauty and Elizabeth is a devoted mother dealing with a major life transition, Silverstone has so much talent and does a great job with both parts.
Why did Alicia Silverstone say yes to starring as Elizabeth on this sweet series? Let's take a look.
A 'Wholesome' Show
The Netflix series is adapted from Ann M. Martin's book series and features Kristy, Mary-Anne, Stacey, Dawn, and Claudia starting their own babysiting club.
It's definitely true that Netflix's The Baby-Sitters Club can be described as a sweet and charming show, and the same thing is true of the book series and the 1995 movie.
Alicia Silverstone was attracted to The Baby-Sitters Club because it's a family-friendly show. She likes that kids can tune in to the show and that her own child really enjoys watching it, too.
Silverstone told Entertainment Weekly that she loves that the series is "super positive and modern" and called it "wholesome." She explained, The show makes my heart so happy when I watch it. And it's nice to watch it as a family because it's such feel-good content for our precious little ones. I think that's important. I don't have to worry if my son wants to watch this — and he loves the show, by the way."
The series does deal with real topics, from divorce to Mary-Anne standing up for a transgender child, and the love that the members of the babysitting club have for each other is very special.
The Mother/Daughter Connection
While Silverstone never read the book series, she liked the mother/daughter bond between Kristy and Elizabeth, and this also seems to be what attracted her to the series.
In her interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress shared she "wasn't super familiar" with the novel series but she enjoyed talking to the showrunners Rachel Shukert and Lucai Aniello about their adoration for the series.
Silverstone said, "And they were telling me about the relationship between my character and Kristy, and how their relationship is going to be really tricky. They're sort of at odds because she's that age for one thing, but also because she had taught her daughter to be very much a feminist, to be independent and strong, and her daughter challenges her and suggests that she is not living those things that she taught her. And so there's a lot of tension and fighting and complication and love, and I thought that was really nice."
Silverstone also told the Las-Vegas Review Journal that she loves that the show talks about what it's like if a kid's mom marries again and they have to grapple with having a stepfather. Kristy does have a tough time with her mom marrying Watson, even though he is nothing but sweet to her and even hires her.
The Adaptation
According to Variety, the very first Baby-Sitters Club novel, called Kristy's Big Idea, tells the story of Kristy setting up her babysitting club. This is also how the show begins, and it's so charming to see young kids with this business idea.
Rachel Shukert, one of the showrunners, told Variety that Kristy is "the driving force on all of these stories" because she came up with the club idea and she's also seeing her mom get married again.
In an interview with Girls Life, Sophie Grace shared that she loved reading the book series. She explained, "my older sister had a whole collection that our grandma had given her. She shared them with my me, and we were hooked! My older sister and I have a pretty significant age difference, so I felt very cool reading the same books as my 15-year-old sister when I was six."
The two connected over the books and Grace shared that she filmed her audition in her bedroom as she lives in Florida. She talked to the producers and casting directors on FaceTime and then went to L.A. She shared that she became close with the other girls and that she relates to Kristy's character: "I'm basically Kristy! We have almost identical personalities."
Fans can't wait for season two of The Baby-Sitters Club and it'll be interesting to see where Kristy and Elizabeth are then.
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