It wasn’t exactly love at first sight for actors Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline, but their fateful first meeting has led to more than 30 years of marriage. The pair met at an audition in 1982 and married seven years later. They went on to welcome two children, raising them in their home base of New York City.
Phoebe and Kevin Met at an Audition for The Big Chill
Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline met each other at an audition where both were vying for parts in filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan’s now-classic boomer comedy-drama The Big Chill. Kline ultimately actually snagged a featured role in the film, which also included William Hurt and Glenn Close in its ensemble, but Cates (also a Juilliard attendee) wasn’t hired for the part she auditioned for. But what she did walk away with was a lifelong partner in the form of fellow actor Kline, even if their relationship didn’t officially begin for some two years.
A year later, Cates starred in the sultry R-rated romantic comedy Private School, in which she portrayed Christine Ramsey, the popular high school student. Cates was going to have her very own real-life rom-com meet cute, but she was unaware of this. Phoebe Cates in Private School (1983).
Two years later, in 1984, Cates and Kline’s paths again crossed in a theater. This time, it was at the venerable Public Theater in downtown New York City, where Kline was working on Shakespeare’s Henry V on one floor and Phoebe was rehearsing for the Russian drama The Nest of the Wood Grouse.
At first, Kline wasn’t sure whether to pursue his feelings for the woman who would become his wife, even though he was deeply attracted to her.
“When I first met Phoebe, I remember thinking, ‘She’s too happy to be with me. She’s too enthusiastic about life…. What’ll we talk about?,” Kline recalled. Archive Footage of Phoebe Cates and Kevin Klein.
However, as their relationship developed over time, the couple shocked those who didn’t think it would last when they got married in a secret ceremony in New York in 1989.
Career edit
Cates made four appearances on the cover of Seventeen magazine while she was a teenage model, starting with the April 1979 issue. In 1979 and 1980, she also made appearances inside the magazine on the editorial pages. [15].
Dissatisfied with modeling, Cates decided to pursue acting. She had a screen test in New York and was given the opportunity to star in the 1982 film Paradise. Despite her reservations about the role’s requirement for nudity, her father urged her to accept the position. [13].
Paradise was filmed in Israel from March to May 1981. [16] While still a minor (age 17), Cates performed multiple full-frontal nude scenes and multiple rear scenes in the movie. The plot of the film was reminiscent of The Blue Lagoon (1980). She also recorded an album with the same name and sang the theme song for the movie. She remembered struggling with the career shift in an interview from 1982: as a model, she had to be aware of the camera, but as an actor, she could not [13] She later expressed regret for appearing in the movie, saying, “I learned not to do a movie like that ever again.” [14] She said that she was unaware that the film’s producers had used a body double to capture her character in nude close-ups. [13] Her co-star Willie Aames claims that she “won’t be involved in any way with the movie.” Shes really upset about it. She wont do any promotion with me. “[17].
Cates starred in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) later that year, which included “the most memorable bikini-drop in cinema history,” according to Rolling Stone. [18] She claimed that filming that picture was “the most fun” for her. [14].
The following year, Cates starred alongside Betsy Russell and Matthew Modine in the comedy Private School (1983), on which she contributed vocals to the soundtrack tracks “Just One Touch” and “How Do I Let You Know.”
Based on a Shirley Conran novel, Cates starred in the TV miniseries Lace in 1984. “To break away from a sameness in her movie portrayals,” she took on the role of Lili. [19] The writer was so taken by her during her audition that he wanted to hire her right away. [19] She found it difficult to play a bitter movie star because she wanted the audience to feel sympathy for her despite the harsh character she had. [20] Because she didn’t want a “fixed,” she didn’t read Conran’s novel, which served as the basis for the film. [20] TV Guide voted her most famous line from the movie, “Which one of you bitches is my mother?” the greatest line in television history in 1993. [21] She also starred in the sequel mini-series Lace II.
For executive producer Steven Spielberg, Cates co-starred in the summer 1984 box office smash Gremlins (1984), which was also her highest-grossing movie to date. In the Gremlins 2: The New Batch sequel, she played Kate Beringer once more (1990).
“There are just not that many good parts in film,” Cates said in 1988, but “there were tons of good women’s roles” in theater. I consider theater to be my favorite activity. I’ve only been content as an actress for the past two years or so. I rarely watch my film work. “[28].
Cates was scheduled to star as Steve Martin’s daughter in the popular comedy Father of the Bride (1991), but she had to withdraw because she was expecting her first child. [30].
Alongside her husband Kevin Kline, Cates starred in the fact-based comedy-drama Princess Caraboo (1994). It was Cates’ final picture before she turned her attention from acting to raising Owen and Greta. [29].
Cates made a brief comeback to acting in 2001 for the one movie, The Anniversary Party (2001), which was directed by her best friend and former Fast Times at Ridgemont High co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh. [31].
Cates voiced Kate Beringer, a Gremlins character, in the video game Lego Dimensions in 2015. [32].
Kevin First Thought “She’s Too Happy to Be with Me.”
Things moved quickly as Kevin and Phoebe Cates Kline welcomed their first child, son Owen Joseph, in 1991, and then their daughter, Greta Simone, in 1994. Having previously starred in Fast Times, Private School, Gremlins and its sequel, Shag and the popular TV miniseries Lace and Lace II, Phoebe took a step back from acting after the birth of her children to focus on raising them. Though she has occasionally appeared on TV and in films over the subsequent decades (remember the wacky dark fantasy Drop Dead Fred?), she never jumped back into the business full-time.
“I knew that acting wasn’t an option for me. I wasn’t driven to do it again,” Phoebe recalls of that time. “I knew I had a certain amount of hours in my day, which didn’t include going off on 15-hour shoot days.”
“No one was supportive, especially my husband,” she jokingly added.
One notable exception Cates made was for her good friend and Fast Times co-star Jennifer Jason Leigh, who co-wrote and co-directed The Anniversary Party in 2001. The offbeat comedy featured Cates, as well as brief appearances by the rest of the Kline/Cates crew! CREDIT: KEVIN WINTER/DMI/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES
Kline continued to act in movies and theatrical production, winning Tony Awards for Best Actor for The Pirates of Penzance, as well as the musical On the Twentieth Century and Present Laughter. And the Academy Awards came knocking when he picked up the prize for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the wacky comedy A Fish Called Wanda.
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