They don't make 'em like they used to.
Which might be for the best in the case of John Tucker Must Die, the 2006 cult-classic comedy starring Jesse Metcalfe as a shameless teen lothario brought low by the girls he was two- (and three-) timing, but who starts to glimpse the error of his ways once he meets Miss Right.
Even if Kate, played by Brittany Snow, is just pretending to be his match in order to exact revenge on behalf of his scorned exes.
"He kinda deserves his comeuppance," Metcalfe admitted to E! News when the movie came out 17 years ago this July, quick to acknowledge that he knew John Tucker was bad news. Though not for playing the field, per se... "I'm not saying I've never been in a situation like this before but, you know... I'm not really this kind of guy."
And looking back on his deceitful title role with more hindsight years later, the actor was quick to disavow the character's worst qualities.
"His sense of entitlement, his misogyny, his dishonesty...where do I begin?" Metcalfe told Glamour in 2019, wincing his way down memory lane. "There's a total recklessness in which he dealt with the hearts of four adolescent, young women whom he both manipulated and used."
Before this gets too dark, though, let it be known that we can appreciate John Tucker Must Die for the of-its-time comedy that it is, one that the cast had a blast making.
"We clicked so fast," Sophia Bush, who played scorned vegan Beth, told Movieweb, noting that when she met her female costars, "I could sense the sort of communal sigh of relief. The first time we all sat down it was like, 'Yeah, everybody here is so cool! Nobody is a diva, nobody is difficult.' We had the best time."
So in the spirit of conspiring behind the scenes, here are 15 secrets about John Tucker Must Die:
Ultimately, John Tucker Must Die was a modest success, reportedly costing $18 million to make and taking in $68 million at the box office. Critics didn't think much of it, but since here we are talking about it (and still laughing out loud at Coach Williams saying, "Yeah, yeah, I know, we all hate each other")...
"The film got completely panned...[so] the fact that it's achieved a little bit of teen comedy cult-classic status is a pleasant surprise," Metcalfe, appreciative of the film's long second act, told TooFab, "I feel like it's the kind of movie that's really been passed down through the generations from older brothers and sisters to the younger siblings."
Not to mention, he added, "I think the movie's hilarious. I think it's finally getting the recognition it deserves."
Anything for you, John.
This story was first published on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at 3 a.m. PT.