Seventeen years ago, Jenna Rink showed rom-com fans what it meant to be "30, flirty, and thriving" in "13 Going on 30."
Almost two decades later, the body-swap
Greer believed it's because of how the film captured the unique joys of one's 30s.
"I really did love my 30s," she said. "You're old enough to kind of know some stuff finally. But you're still young enough to get away with doing some stupid stuff that's also really fun."
"Also, you can actually afford to buy a decent cocktail at a bar for the first time in your life instead of having to drink at home before you go out," Greer added. "Maybe that's the difference."
In honor of the film's anniversary, Insider spoke with Greer about her experience making the iconic movie, what she swiped from the set, and what makes the movie so "universally loved."
Gary Winick's "13 Going on 30" stars Garner as the 30-year-old version of Jenna, an unpopular girl who makes a wish on magic dust after a lackluster 13th birthday party.
Upon waking up in her adult body, Jenna realizes that she got the seemingly perfect life she's always wanted, living in a spacious New York apartment, complete with a walk-in closet, and having a career as a "big-time magazine editor" at the publication she grew up reading.
"I remember that I sort of fell in love with Gary Winick in my audition," Greer said of the filmmaker, who died in 2011. "He just had a real kind of glow around him." She added, "I knew he was really special. Obviously, he liked my audition, but he seemed to like connecting with me as a person, too, which I always appreciate from a director."
After landing the role of Lucy Wyman, Jenna's childhood friend who later becomes her coworker at the magazine Poise, Greer attended acting and dance rehearsals, where she got to know her new castmate.
"Meeting her was a treat," she said of her first interaction with Garner. "Who can ever say enough about her? She's literally like what everyone says, like the greatest of all time."
"She was just a really great leader. She never complained. She was never late to work. She was professional, but she was also crazy fun and, obviously, so talented," Greer added. "When you have someone like that as No. 1 on the call sheet, you really can't complain about anything. Like, you're an a--hole if you do."
But bonding with Garner wasn't the main purpose of these rehearsals. After about two days of practice, the famous "Thriller" dance scene was born.
In the movie, Jenna initiates the dance number during a snoozy Poise party that's desperate for some excitement. Greer, Garner, and Mark Ruffalo (who stars as Jenna's love interest, Matt Flamhaff) were joined in the dance number by costar Andy Serkis (who plays Jenna's boss, Richard Kneeland) and a slew of professional dancers.
Ruffalo recently said he wasn't fond of the rehearsals because the choreography didn't come naturally to him, but Greer said she had the opposite experience."The rehearsals were amazing," the actress recalled. "Rehearsing for 'Thriller' was so fun, and then shooting the movie was just a dream come true."
Greer said they shot the dance for so long that it was burned into her brain forever. She added that, occasionally, people still asked her to perform the choreography if the Michael Jackson track comes on.
Greer said it was "unusual" for her to portray a character such as Lucy - the film's cunning antagonist - because she was "always playing silly, happy, quirky roles."
By 2004, the actress had already appeared on shows such as "Arrested Development" and rom-coms such as "What Women Want" and "The Wedding Planner."
"And this was definitely more of a stretch. Unfortunately, not more of a stretch for me because I definitely have a b----y side," Greer joked. "But I didn't ever really get to express that at work."
After the movie came out, people used to come up to me a lot and tell me I was awful. I was mean. I was a b----.
The actress said that it was especially difficult to be mean to Garner, and that she would apologize once the camera cut.
"It was really hard to be mean to Jen," Greer said. "I remember being mean to her in scenes, and then after a cut just being like, 'Ugh, I'm so sorry.' And then sometimes I remember we would be in the middle of a scene, and they would cut, and she would just be like, 'You're so mean!'"
While Greer's costars were able to separate her from the character (more than a decade after "13 Going on 30," she and Garner are still close friends), the actress said that some fans assumed she was like Lucy in real life.
"After the movie came out, people used to come up to me a lot and tell me I was awful. I was mean. I was a b----. I was a terrible person," she said. "I'm like, 'You know that's a role, right? Like, I was acting.'"
Greer had such an enjoyable time making the movie that she was "so sad it wasn't a TV show." "I thought, 'This is a job I'd want to go to every day for eight years,'" she said.
She even took a few mementos home from the set - a Poise coffee mug that she "fully stole," some clothing that was tailored to fit her, and a black leather Marc Jacobs bag that she "begged for."
The film's star-studded cast includes four actors who would go on to land roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Greer (Scott Lang's ex-wife, Maggie, in the "Ant-Man" films), Ruffalo (Hulk/Bruce Banner), Serkis (villain Ulysses Klaue), and young Six Chick actor Brie Larson (Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers).
"I think that's awesome," Greer said of the shared connection. "If you're an actor in Hollywood for long enough, you're going to be in the Marvel Universe."
Greer, who's been acting professionally since the '90s, said that it's "weird" to see which films resonate with people over the years.
"I'm not at all surprised by the way that this one has stuck around," she said of "13 Going on 30." "I always think you're safer to go into any job just wanting to connect with people and have fun and tell a good story. And the rest is up to the gods, you know?"
"It's universally loved," Greer said, adding that she's met a range of fans - from young girls who weren't born when the film premiered to older men who watched the film alongside their daughters.
"You know how you have a song with people? You have a movie with people, so I think in a lot of ways, this movie has connected people to each other," Greer said. "So it will always have a special place in their hearts and that will last forever."
"13 Going on 30" likely appeals to many because it's wholesome, and its message of wanting to jump to a different stage in life is relatable. The '80s-infused soundtrack, with songs from the late Whitney Houston, Vanilla Ice, and Madonna, also adds to the appeal.
"There's something for anyone in there - unless you like horror movies," Greer said. "I don't know that there's much for the horror genre in '13 Going on 30.' But, hey, some people might think that being forced into your 30s could be like a horror movie."
While it's unlikely that a sequel will happen, Greer is happy to see that the movie continues to be enjoyed by people of all generations.
"13 Going on 30" even served as inspiration for Ariana Grande's 2018 music video for "Thank U, Next," which has more than 600 million views to date.
"I'm really proud that that's the one people really embrace," Greer said of the movie's enduring impact.
She added, "I wanted to tell stories that made people happy and made people think. So with this, I think we really did it."