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Some of the best moments from Clueless - Amy Heckerling’s landmark film about a teenage girl growing up in Beverly Hills - can be found in the unforgettable house party scene. What’s the big deal about this party scene? Doesn’t every teen movie have a moment where the main characters cross paths with their supporting cast to add nuance to each of their storylines? Totally, but this house party is straight up electric, and it deserves your attention.
Filming the house party took a full two weeks, and in that time, the house from Clueless was practically destroyed by fake smoke, real mud, and ridiculous dance movies. The scene has become a cultural touchstone for everyone who lived and loved in the ‘90s, and the behind-the-scenes stories are as over-the-top as the party itself.
'Rollin' With The Homies' Wasn't The Original Song Amy Heckerling Had In Mind
The Coolio track "Rollin' With the Homies" is a major part of the party scene in Clueless, but that wasn't always the case. Amy Heckerling said that she initially wanted to use "Fantastic Voyage," because she wanted a song that could incorporate synchronized choreography.
Heckerling said, "I liked Coolio for that part of the movie because I wanted something that involved hand movements or movements that everybody would be doing together that could mess up Tai. The song that I was originally thinking about when I was writing it was 'Slide, slide, slippity slide." Of course, she ended up going with "Rollin' With The Homies," and the rest is history.
Even though the party scene is filled with teens lighting up, nobody was really puffing cigs. Instead, the teens were holding fake props in front of their faces while a smoke machine wafted a faux version around the room.
While speaking with Vulture, Breckin Meyer (Travis) said, "Party scenes are always weird because you have the fake smoke being blown in, you have a ton of background people smoking fake [cigs], which, oddly enough, smell weirder than real [ones]. I remember that distinctly, having a headache from [it]."
Remember that couple that makes out in a pool during the party scene? Not only was that the first time they met, but it was the beginning of a long relationship. Director Amy Heckerling explained the meet-cute to Vulture:
At one point [in the scene], I wanted to see that the party was getting later into the evening: somebody would be throwing up in the swimming pool, and a couple would be making out in the pool, you know. Me and the ADs were saying that if any of the extras wanted to play a couple in the swimming pool that would be making out, they would get extra money for that because they would be wet.
So, you know, a couple of people volunteered: a cute guy and a cute girl. And I thought, well, they’ll make a nice couple. So we asked them if they wanted to do it, and they looked at each other and thought, "Yeah, okay." Years later, I was walking down Melrose, and I hear some people going, "Amy! Amy!" And I turn around, and it was them. They met that night. They’re engaged. She shows me the ring that’s been in his family... They became a couple, and when I met them on the street, they were engaged. I don’t know how that marriage worked out, but it was really sweet.
Even though she wasn't in the movie at all - not even as an extra - Tara Reid was hanging around the party scene just for fun. Donald Faison (Murray) told Vulture that he knew Reid from way back and that he just bumped into her while filming.
Faison said that he was shooting the party scene for so long that he fell asleep and was "woken up by Tara Reid, who was not in the movie but just came by the set to hang out. Which was really odd. I went to high school with Tara Reid, so when she woke me up, it was kinda like, 'Yo, what are you doing here?'"
The Scene Was Based On An Actual Party At Amy Heckerling's Home
According to the cast and crew, the party scene in the film was based on an actual get-together that happened at Amy Heckerling's house. The party was thrown for her friend - who was younger - and when her guests showed up, the director quickly learned about '90s party antics.
During the party, she learned about "suck and blow," which made it into the movie, and she also picked up on some teenage verbiage that she worked into the script.
Even though the game of "suck and blow" looks simple - it's just a single tracking shot, after all - it was incredibly difficult to shoot. The five actors in the scene had to continually suck in air to keep the credit card against their lips before transferring the card to their partner by blowing out air.
To make matters worse, the credit cards they were using were heavier than everyone thought, which meant the actors weren't able to hold them up to their mouths as long as necessary. The actors in the scene had to eventually use fake credit cards made of cardboard to shoot the scene in one take.
