‘What Men Want’ Director Adam Shankman Explains Why Actors Are Always Falling In Love On His Movie Sets

Director Adam Shankman once vowed to never make a romantic comedy movie again, if you can even believe it. But it’s true. The director of What Men Want, in theaters now, had such a bad experience with one of his (now iconic) films that he was ready to walk away from the genre entirely. Let’s all take a moment to appreciate that it didn’t last.

“After I made The Wedding Planner, even though the movie sort of lives on, I remember critically I got beat up so bad that I said, ‘I’m never doing this again, no matter how much I love these movies, I can never do this again,'” Shankman told Decider. Now, as the incredibly successful producer, writer, choreographer, and director he’s become, he joked he was “basically labeled the Jeffrey Dahmer of the DGA,” describing the experience as “so crazy,” especially considering that the Jennifer Lopez/Matthew McConaughey film was simply “this innocuous movie that has this really sweet heart.”

“I remember [music composer] Marc Shaiman sent me this text that [said], ‘How does it feel to be the most hated man in America right now?'” Shankman continued. “I did not even know this was a thing that could happen, because the critics were so harsh to me. I was a little surprised.” And so he made himself a promise after the film’s 2001 release. “I said, ‘I’m never going to do this again. I’ll make comedies, but I don’t think I can do this again.”

Luckily, that promise has been broken. But in the meantime, Shankman went on to direct A Walk to Remember, Bringing Down The House, Hairspray, and Rock of Ages, and after working on Step Up and Hairspray with his best friend, Anne Fletcher, she would go on to direct 2008’s 27 Dresses. Shankman recalled, “As the guy who’d also just made a wedding-themed romantic comedy, I was like, ‘Good luck, my love!'” Though off the success of the Katherine Heigl masterpiece (what? IT IS), Fletcher would go on to direct Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal, as well as this past December’s sweet Netflix release, Dumplin’. “I think we both just really love these old-fashioned notions of romance and comedy, walking hand-in-hand down the aisle,” Shankman confessed.

And they aren’t alone. While millions of viewers prove each year just how much they love watching these movies, it’s not only the audiences that fall under the magical, romantic spell of these stories. It’s the actors too, as Shankman reveals he’s watched the chemistry between two beautiful actors bubble up right in front of his eyes — several times. “I remember when I was making A Walk to Remember, with Shane [West] and Mandy [Moore] — she turned 17 on that movie. She was going out with Wilmer Valderrama at the time. So I was like ‘Uh-oh’ watching the chemistry [between the two stars]. Then I literally watched it happen on Step Up with Channing [Tatum] and Jenna [Dewan]. Then I watched it really happen again on Last Song with Miley [Cyrus] and Liam [Hemsworth]. So, I’ve had quite the front row, center position.”

And even if the movie almost changed the course of his career, Shankman still admitted the set of The Wedding Planner was awfully exciting when it came to the stars’ personal lives. “Jennifer was going out with Diddy and Bridgette [Wilson-Sampras] with Pete Sampras and Matthew was with Sandra Bullock, so they were around.”

Of course not all relationships that start on set bloom into their own fairytale ending, as Shankman saw on the set of What Men Want. After telling AOL Build about the time Pete Davidson came to work and revealed he’d gotten engaged to Ariana Grande, Shankman seemed surprised about the fiancée but not about the fact that it happened. “Pete is a very romantic person. I think Pete at his core is an optimist and a romantic,” Shankman fondly said of the actor.

And with the news that Davidson will be starring in his own romantic comedy soon, directed by Judd Apatow, Shankman is fully supportive of that move saying, “He’s really smart, he’s really funny. I believe that Pete is so talented and I would be really happy for him to just live in that world.”

As far as the world of romantic comedies goes, especially after Netflix’s 2018 Summer of Love, including the films The Kissing Booth, Set It Up, and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Shankman doesn’t seem surprised that there’s such an enthusiasm for the genre at the moment. “I like to believe that comedy, particularly comedy with a certain amount of sentiment around it, blossoms in challenging times. If you look at the kind of movies that Hollywood was making during World War II or Vietnam, this notion of love blooming against adversity ends up becoming much more desirable for audiences during these times. I would credit the superhero thing happening also because of the world we live in. The fantasy of something saving us all is right, and that is true of romance as well.”

What Men Want is a true example of this, yes, addressing the somehow still lingering issue of female inequality in the workplace, while also serving up the most laughs you’ll experience since Girls Trip [the films share a producer in Will Packer], and opportunities to both fan yourself off at the sexiness while also finding a glimmer of hope that good guys might still exist. This is all led by a star that Shankman describes as a “force of nature,” Ms. Taraji P. Henson. “To say that she ‘gets it’ is the greatest understatement,” he said. Going into the project, the director was pretty sure his star would be good with the comedic material but did not realize she would “dominate in this way,” especially when it came to nailing comedic rhythms. “It just made my life so happy and so easy. To see her climb when she’s put against Tracy Morgan or Wendi McLendon-Covey or Jason Jones or these people who are so fast — she was right there with them. I hope to see her doing a lot more of this.”

Having a star that totally gets it sure does help, especially considering Shankman wasn’t working with a lot of time or money. “This was not a big budget movie. I made this movie in virtually the exact same amount of time that I made A Walk to Remember — it was that small. A Walk to Remember had, like, ten characters in it; this was a whole freaking world and an NBA draft and all those stars and all those athletes and a world that I had to figure out how to get there fast.” Luckily, Shankman didn’t waste time being starstruck when shooting those NBA draft scenes — and yes, he really filmed at the actual NBA draft. “All of the actors and the producer were walking around, like, ‘I can’t believe we’re here, this is the most amazing thing.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what this is, I don’t know who these people are, I’m glad you like them, I have a job to do.'”

That job entailed bringing the gender-flipped remake of 2000’s Mel Gibson comedy What Women Want to life, and it’s safe to say he accomplished that and more. Though Shankman had not spoken to the original film’s director, Nancy Meyers, he said, “I want her to know how grateful I am and that we stand on the shoulders of the success of the first movie,” and confirmed he has invited her to screenings of him film. Meyers, another director with quite a few beloved rom-coms under her belt, is often known for the dreamy, stocked, signature kitchens the stars of her films inhabit (which Shankman told us are all based on her very own dreamy, stocked kitchen). But if you’re looking for the one thing all of Shankman’s films have in common, you might not spot it on film, but you sure will feel it. “I have prided myself on not having a signature,” he admitted. “I think I’m too big a ‘fraidy cat to say, ‘This thing I do is good enough to be ascribed to me.’ I just want people to experience joy.” Sounds like…What Audiences Want.

Where to stream The Wedding Planner