Here's What The What A Girl Wants Cast Looks Like Today
The spring of 2023 marked two decades since the cult classic comedy "What a Girl Wants" hit theaters. Starring an ascendent Amanda Bynes (fresh off of her hit Nickelodeon series "The Amanda Show") as a young girl who absconds to London, England, to meet the estranged father she lost when her mother left him without warning before her birth, the film went on to become a modest box office success and an enduring snapshot of the early 2000s.
Playing the parents of Bynes' Daphne Reynolds were none other than Kelly Preston and a younger Colin Firth — years before a string of hits would solidify him as a posh, continent-defying icon of the entertainment industry. Set in the U.K., "What a Girl Wants" features an ensemble of English actors at various stages in their careers. Some had been exalted performers on the West End for decades before they deigned to appear in the 2003 film — others were barely out of college before they were plucked out of obscurity to star in a major American motion picture.
Fortunately, the years have been almost unanimously kind to the cast of "What a Girl Wants" — including to its star, who persevered through a decade of hardship and continues to create the art she wants. And though some of these actors may no longer be with us, each one of them helped create one of the most beloved teen flicks of the early 2000s.
Colin Firth — Henry Dashwood, Earl of Wycombe
Despite the fact that Amanda Bynes received top billing, undoubtedly the most famous actor to lend their talents to "What a Girl Wants" is Colin Firth. The English film and television star played Bynes' estranged father Henry Dashwood when he was 41 years old — the same age at which he played Jamie Bennett in "Love Actually." When he was first cast, his most recognizable role to American audiences was likely that of Mark Darcy in "Bridget Jones's Diary."
Firth enjoys a celebrated career as one of Hollywood's favorite English imports. He has since given innumerable critically acclaimed performances, especially those in "A Single Man" and "The King's Speech" — both of which earned him Academy Award nominations (Firth took home the Oscar for best actor for the latter). His most recent roles of note include Michael Peterson in the chilling HBO true crime series "The Staircase" (for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award) and a supporting role in Sam Mendes' "Empire of Light."
Though he continues to play distinguished older gentlemen quite frequently, Firth was stunned that he had reached something close to this point when he was cast in "What a Girl Wants." He told UK Cinemas at the time, "The biggest [surprise] was realizing I'm now old enough to play the elder statesman to this beautiful teenage girl who's my daughter. That was a bit of a shock, and I have to say I'm not that comfortable with it. I'd rather have eased into it, playing dad to a baby, and then a 5-year-old and so on."
Eileen Atkins — Jocelyn Dashwood, Countess of Wycombe
Playing Colin Firth's mother in "What a Girl Wants" was Dame Eileen Atkins, DBE, an English stage and screen actor with a career in the arts stretching back to the 1950s. She was a respected performer in the U.K. long before she starred alongside Amanda Bynes in 2003, having won two Olivier Awards (basically the English equivalent of a Tony Award) for her work in the theater. In 1990, she was given the English title of honor Commander of the Order of the British Empire — and, a decade later, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
Close to 90 years old as of this writing, Atkins is still a consistent theatrical performer, occasionally appearing in smaller roles in film and television projects. The year after "What a Girl Wants" was released, she earned her third Olivier Award for her role in "Honour," and went on to feature in films like "Magic in the Moonlight" and "Paddington 2." She further won an Emmy Award for her work in the miniseries "Cranford", and played Queen Mary in the first season of the Netflix series "The Crown." In 2023, in addition to starring in a production of "4,000 Miles" (in which she was originally meant to act opposite "Wonka" star Timothée Chalamet), she played a supporting role in the Olivia Coleman-led black comedy "Wicked Little Letters." The actor hasn't spoken publicly about her role in "What a Girl Wants," though it endures as one of her most famous to American audiences.
Anna Chancellor — Glynnis Payne
Anna Chancellor had the relatively thankless task of playing the central "villain" of "What a Girl Wants" — Henry Dashwood's new fiancée Glynnis Payne. Styled after the evil stepmother archetype, she cruelly treats Amanda Bynes' Daphne Reynolds as a threat to her and her daughter's future at Wycombe. Chancellor and Firth had previously acted together in identical roles in the 1995 BBC miniseries adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Chancellor played Caroline Bingley, who desires Firth's Fitzwilliam Darcy as a lucrative romantic opportunity — which is essentially the dynamic Payne and Dashwood have in "What a Girl Wants." Besides this, her most famous project pre-2003 was 1994's "Four Weddings and a Funeral."
These days, Chancellor has a career much like the one she had in the late '90s and early 2000s. Since "What a Girl Wants," she's appeared in countless series in guest-starring roles, including "The Crown," "Downton Abbey," "Law and Order: UK" and "Penny Dreadful," and had a recurring supporting role on the DC Comics series "Pennyworth" (no, we're not saying the ridiculous full Season 3 title). On film, she's had supporting roles in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris," and the Netflix feature "Stromboli," among many others. In 2023, she's had significant roles in the HBO series "Rain Dogs" and the Amazon Prime Video sports drama "Fifteen-Love."
Christina Cole — Clarissa Payne
The evil stepdaughter to Anna Chancellor's evil stepmother was Clarissa Payne, Glynnis' child from a previous marriage, played by Christina Cole. Cole was 21 years old when "What a Girl Wants" was released in 2003, at which point her only professional screen acting credit was a 2002 BBC TV film called "The Project" (which also happened to feature future "Succession" star Matthew Macfadyen). Having been cast in "What a Girl Wants" while finishing up her undergraduate studies at the Oxford School of Drama, she left school early to join the shoot.
Since her debut, Cole has taken part in many popular films and television shows. Almost immediately after "What a Girl Wants" launched her to stardom, she led the short-lived Sky One series "Hex." She had a number of guest-starring appearances in shows like "Doctor Who" and "The Blacklist," and had a prominent recurring role on the resurgent USA legal drama "Suits" as Dr. Paula Agard, therapist and ex-girlfriend of Gabriel Macht's Harvey Specter. She's also enjoyed a robust voice acting career and can be heard in both "Final Fantasy XVI" and "Alan Wake II" — two of the biggest releases of 2023.
Despite evoking fear from children as a consequence, Cole is grateful to have been a part of "What a Girl Wants." In a 2020 interview with Vulture, she marveled, "It really has been quite an iconic movie in subsequent years, hasn't it? It was a gift that landed on my lap and I'm forever grateful."
James Greene — Percy
Irish actor James Greene was perfectly endearing as Henry Dashwood's suitably stiff butler Percy, which he portrayed at the age of 72. At the time, he had small parts in larger films like the Johnny Depp-led crime thriller "From Hell" (based on the comic of the same name by Alan Moore) and the Rowan Atkinson farce "Johnny English," though he had been a prolific TV actor since the early '70s.
Greene's career continued steadily along this path until he landed a series regular role on the ITV romantic comedy program "William and Mary." Afterwards, he appeared in "Merlin," "Wolf Hall," "Downton Abbey," as well as many other television shows. For those readers who love video games, he was notably the voice of Carhillion of the Fold in FromSoftware's "Dark Souls II." On January 5, 2021, Greene passed away at the age of 89. His final role was in the BBC series "Cuckoo" in 2019.
Oliver James — Ian Wallace
As was customary of these sorts of "new girl trying to fit in" teen comedies in the early 2000s, the posh society Amanda Bynes' Daphne Reynolds aspires to join is juxtaposed by the object of her affection — a rough-around-the-edges aspiring musician named Ian Wallace. Wallace was played by Oliver James, a burgeoning actor six years older than Bynes. "What a Girl Wants" was James' feature film debut, having only appeared in a TV film at the time, much like co-star Christina Cole.
After breaking out in "What a Girl Wants," James landed another meaty supporting role as Hillary Duff's romantic interest in the teen musical drama "Raise Your Voice" — like his role in "What a Girl Wants," this utilized his skills as an actor and a real-life musician. He had a handful of other supporting roles in the years that followed, but he eventually chose to pivot his career away from acting in the early 2010s. He is now a mindfulness therapist operating in London, helping his clients process trauma and exercise self-improvement.
Though he has since declined requests for interviews relating to "What a Girl Wants," James was part of the press tour for the film back in 2003. Speaking to Bobbie Wygant, he modestly spoke about how his casting in the film was mostly luck, as it was his first feature film audition. He continued to state that he couldn't believe it when he arrived on set for the first day of shooting for a scene opposite Colin Firth, and that "half a year or so on, and my feet haven't really touched the ground."
Kelly Preston — Libby Reynolds
Libby Reynolds, the sweet, down-to-earth mother of Amanda Bynes' Daphne, was played by American actor Kelly Preston. Throughout the '80s and '90s, Preston was a prominent leading and supporting figure in numerous popular films, including the Stephen King horror adaptation "Christine," the Arnold Schwarzenegger-Danny DeVito comedy "Twins," "Jerry Maguire" alongside Tom Cruise, and "Battlefield Earth" alongside her husband John Travolta.
The same year "What a Girl Wants" premiered, Preston also starred in the Michael Myers-led live action "Cat in the Hat" film. In the years afterward, her career slowed down significantly (though this was likely due to her growing family and the needs of her late son, Jett). She tragically passed away in 2020 at the age of 57, having lived with breast cancer for the previous two years. In "Gotti," Preston's final film released in her lifetime, she starred opposite Travolta in the title role.
Jonathan Pryce — Alistair Payne
The most devilish of the villainous Payne family, patriarch Alistair Payne was responsible for driving away Kelly Preston's Libby Reynolds while she was pregnant with Daphne. Payne was played by Sir Jonathan Pryce, yet another celebrated English actor introduced to younger American audiences through his role in "What a Girl Wants." The multiple Tony and Olivier award-winning actor had previously had roles in American projects aimed at much older audiences, including "Man on Fire," "Glengarry Glen Ross," the musical biopic "Evita" (in which he starred opposite Madonna), as well as the Pierce Brosnan "James Bond" film "Tomorrow Never Dies."
However, "What a Girl Wants" was not ultimately his most impactful release that year. A few months earlier, he played the father of Keira Knightley's Elizabeth Swann in "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," a role which he would reprise numerous times in subsequent years. In addition to this franchise, Pryce had roles in the Channing Tatum-Dwayne Johnson "G.I. Joe" duology among many other credits. He truly shone on TV, however, where he appeared in the miniseries "Wolf Hall," as The High Sparrow in HBO's "Game of Thrones," and as Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh on the Netflix series "The Crown" (following Matt Smith and Tobias Menzies).
Sylvia Syms — Princess Charlotte
In a supporting role as the aging Princess Charlotte, whom Daphne Reynolds develops a friendly relationship with, was Sylvia Syms, once known to those in the U.K. as the "Grand Dame of British Cinema" (though she was notably never anointed as dame by the British Empire — only an officership). Throughout her prolific career, which spanned seven decades, she played a wide variety of roles.
Three years after "What a Girl Wants" premiered in 2003, she played Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in the Helen Mirren-led historical biopic "The Queen," written by "The Crown" creator Peter Morgan. She also had a role in the 2005 film "The Poseidon Adventure" and recurred on the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders. In 2023, Syms died at the age of 89 in a retirement community in England. Her children praised her adventurous spirit in a statement obtained by Sky News, and thanked those that cared for her during her final years.
Tara Summers — Noelle
Another young English actor who made their feature film debut in "What a Girl Wants" was Tara Summers, who had a small supporting role as Noelle. She was 24 when the film premiered in 2003, and in the decades since she has built a robust career in projects on both sides of the pond.
After a string of consistent but relatively unglamorous gigs, she landed the role of Katie Lloyd on the popular ABC television series "Boston Legal," starring alongside James Spader and William Shatner for its final two seasons. She then had recurring roles in the FX thrillers "Damages" and "Sons of Anarchy," and guest-starred on series like "CSI: NY," HBO's Aaron Sorkin drama "The Newsroom," "The Good Wife," "Lucifer," "Silicon Valley," "Fleischman is in Trouble," "Evil," and many more.
In 2023, she appeared in the Apple TV+ apocalyptic series "Extrapolations." On Instagram, her bio fittingly reads "Alive & Well."
Amanda Bynes — Daphne Reynolds
When Amanda Bynes was cast as Daphne Reynolds in "What a Girl Wants," she was arguably one of the most promising child comedians in the country. For three seasons, she led the sketch-comedy series "The Amanda Show" on Nickelodeon, playing a crucial role in defining the network's turn-of-the-century identity as it skyrocketed in popularity. Her role in "What a Girl Wants" came shortly after she starred alongside Paul Giamatti and Frankie Muniz in "Big Fat Liar," and during her time leading the WB sitcom "What I Like About You."
Though "What a Girl Wants" has enjoyed enduring cultural status, it wasn't necessarily her biggest project during the 2000s. In 2005, she voiced a character in the animated film "Robots," and a year after that starred opposite Channing Tatum in "She's the Man" — and then the year after that, she headlined "Hairspray," alongside Zac Efron. In 2010, however, she suddenly decided to take a hiatus from acting. "Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem," she tweeted at the time. "If I don't love something anymore, I stop doing it. I don't love acting anymore, so I've stopped doing it." During her semi-retirement from acting, Bynes went through serious personal struggles that ultimately resulted in her parents being legally appointed her conservators. This ended in 2022.
As of this writing, Bynes continues to treat her mental health on her own terms, and has started a podcast with her close friend Paul Sieminski. She has previously teased a potential return to acting, though has made no concrete plans to do so as of yet.