Why Alicia Silverstone signed on for ‘Clueless’ sequel series

Alicia Silverstone has explained why she made the totally important decision to return to her Clueless character for an upcoming TV series.

The actress behind protagonist Cher Horowitz in the iconic 1995 movie, who’s as essential as the fashion that the teenage characters model, said she’s “really excited” about the project, which she will also executive produce.

“I think we’re going to try really hard. The goal is to make it honor what everyone loves about Clueless and Cher,” Silverstone said Thursday on Today. “So we want to honor that, but also bring something fresh and new to it. I’m confident that we’ll be able to do that, but we’re in baby stages right now.”

In April, it was announced that both Silverstone and Amy Heckerling, the movie’s writer and director, would return for a series in development at Peacock. It’s so far unclear which other actors will join them. The Clueless cast included Paul Rudd, Stacey Dash, Donald Faison, Justin Walker, Jeremy Sisto, Elisa Donovan, Breckin Meyer, and the late Brittany Murphy.

The original movie was a modernized version of Jane Austen’s Emma that depicted Cher setting out to help others fall in love, for her own benefit, then ending up finding romance herself in an unexpected place. The movie ended with her and Rudd’s Josh, whose mother was married to Cher’s father for “five minutes,” kissing at the wedding of two people who benefited from Cher’s matchmaking.

Dash, Faison, and Donovan were just three of the cast members who took part in a previous Clueless TV series, which aired from 1996 to 1999 on ABC and then UPN. (Actress Rachel Blanchard stepped in for Silverstone.)

Back in July 2020, Silverstone told Vogue that she continued to have little kids come up to her and ask if she’s Cher, which tells her that their parents are fans who have shown it to them.

“I think people identify with Cher’s heart and her willingness to change and grow because of how silly she was,” Silverstone told the magazine. “She was trying hard to evolve because of her sweet Josh.”

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She continued, “I don’t know how to explain why or what made Clueless what it was, but I know it happened and I know that people continue to love it. And it never gets old, so that’s the good news.”

That goes for her as well as audiences.

“People always say ‘Oh you must be so sick of it,'” she explained. “But what’s there to be sick of? People liking the movie you’re in? It truly doesn’t get better.”