'Never Been Kissed' turns 20

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 4/9/2019, 10:21 a.m.
It's time for South Glen South High School to have a class reunion.
Drew Barrymore and Michael Vartan star in "Never Been Kissed." The film, celebrating its 20th anniversary, has become a cult classic.

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) -- It's time for South Glen South High School to have a class reunion.

Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the '90s rom-com in which Drew Barrymore stars as Josie Geller, a shy, 25-year-old junior copywriter at the Chicago Sun-Times, who poses as a student in her former high school to research teen culture for the newspaper.

David Arquette co-stars as Josie's formerly cool kid brother, Rob, who tries to help her infiltrate the popular clique, while Michael Vartan plays the English teacher Josie falls for, Sam Coulson.

The film has become a cult classic and was a labor of love for Barrymore.

"I wanted to make this movie because it taps into an emotion that everyone can identify with -- the awkward moments of our high school years. For Josie, high school was a horrible, humiliating experience," Barrymore said in an interview when the film debuted. "She completely lacks in social skills, and now, when she has to relive those years by going back, she again misses the mark by the mile."

Interview magazine talked to the film's costume designer Mona May about Josie's style evolution in the movie.

"Drew [Barrymore] is amazing, I've worked with her for many years -- she's so hands-on," May said. "For 'Never Been Kissed' we went to Loehmanns to try clothes on because she really wanted to find the coolest, weirdest stuff to create this character."

If you want to relive your angsty high school memories, "Never Been Kissed" is currently streaming on HBONow.

(HBO and CNN share parent company WarnerMedia.)