NOTE: This post originally stated Cook was reprising Laney Boggs, but her He's All That character is not connected to Laney. The article has been updated.
Rachael Leigh Cook has officially removed her glasses and joined the cast of the She's All That remake, titled He's All That. Cook underwent a fictional glow-up as Laney Boggs in She's All That, a late-90s teen rom-com that's now receiving a makeover of its own. In the original movie, Laney is a shy, deceptively mousy student who's later revealed to be pretty and likable when a popular jock named Zachary Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) attempts to raise her social status.
Deadline reports Cook will now return to the same story, this time as the mother of the rebooted Zachary character, Padgett Sawyer. TikTok influencer Addison Rae will play Padgett, the popular girl who takes a nerd (Tanner Buchanan) under her wing as a challenge. Mark Waters will direct the script by R. Lee Fleming Jr. for Miramax. Jennifer Gibgot and Andrew Panay are returning to produce. The cast is chock-full of rising young talent, including Madison Pettis, Isabella Corvette, Peyton Meyer, Andrew Matarazzo, and Vanessa Dubasso.
He's All That hops on a bandwagon full of gender-flipped reboots currently passing through the film industry. Ghostbusters, What Men Want, and Ocean's Eight all updated the originals by switching the genders of their leads. More remakes with the same angle are on the way, including a Pirates of the Caribbean refresh starring Margot Robbie and a Lord of the Flies reinterpretation from Luca Guadagnino. These contemporary takes have ranged from fun experiments to pointed political statements with varying degrees of success. With a story that's explicitly gendered yet universally applicable, She's All That feels ripe for a shake-up.
He's All That hasn't published an official synopsis as of yet. We know that Padgett is motivated to get Buchanan's (so far unnamed) unpopular foil elected prom king after breaking up with her boyfriend. Her mother acts as a loving voice of reason.
Source: Deadline