Freddie Prinze Jr. had a “miserable” experience that made me know what I did last summer

Freddie Prinze Jr. had a small handful of minor TV guest starring spots and movie roles to his name when he hit his big hit with 1997’s I Know What You Do… though the experience almost made him quit acting.

The 47-year-old actor launched his new horror podcast That Was Pretty Scary on Tuesday, which kicked off with an in-depth look at I Know What You Did last summer.

revealed in a new interview with TooFab that while he was grateful for doing the film, it was still such a bad experience that he did not see the film at its premiere.

The actor actually watched the movie for the first time ever while preparing for his podcast, where he explained why it was such a difficult experience.

This comes just a month after it was reported that both Prinze Jr. and Prinze Jr. will be back. and Jennifer Love Hewitt for a new sequel along with a new cast.

The movie is set in a sleepy seaside town, where four teens (Prince Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe) are involved in a terrible accident, which they all swear to never speak of again.

After they all return from their freshman year of college, they learn that someone else knows their terrifying secret and that their lives are in danger from a maniac.

The film grossed $126 million worldwide and helped launch the career of the young star, though Prinze Jr. was hit hard largely by director Jim Gillespie.

It’s not that we weren’t on the same page, I knew what the right choices were for Ray’s character. “He wanted a different actor, a really good actor named Jeremy Sisto, whom I know and love and respect a lot,” Prinze Jr. said.

He added that both the studio—Columbia Pictures—and writer Kevin Williamson paid Prinze Jr. to do so. instead of Sisto, and Prinze Jr. was chosen. In the end, though, it led to a harsh environment for the group.

I’ll give the guy this, I think his name is Jim, he didn’t have any bones in it. There was no passive aggressiveness — which I hate — it was just very direct in the fact that, “I don’t want you in this movie,” the actor said with a laugh.

So when this is your first job and you hear those words, it just destroys you, man. Admit it only destroys you.

The actor met his wife, Sarah Michelle Gellar, on that set, though they wouldn’t start dating until a few years later, and he credits Ryan Phillippe with keeping him quiet on the set.

So, when I had those moments where the director would give me psychotic remarks, like, ‘Don’t leave your mouth open. You look stupid when you do that”—that was the subtle remark, word for word, I’ll never forget—and I’m like, I’m either going to screw up or I’m going to have to beat this a** guy up. Like those were the only two options in my head, said the actor.

“I remember Ryan coming up to me and he was like, ‘Fuck that guy, man. How many times have you auditioned for this movie? And I say, “Five times,” he says, “Yeah, I earned it. You weren’t offered the role, you got it. There were fewer people each time I went then it was just you. Remember what reserved you for this role. Delete his notes. Any remark he gives you just say, “Okay, and do whatever you want to do.” He was the first person to say that to me, Prinze Jr. admitted, though he added that while he was related to Phillip on the set, they’re not that close now.

He added, “It was very difficult to get up in the morning — or in the afternoon, because we’ve been picking up so many nights — and go to work with the right attitude.”

“Because I knew the moment we started to audition, I was either going to be Mr. Pay No Mind, who would be the place to give everyone feedback before we shot anything or before we rehearsed, except for me,” he added.

He made a point to single me out each time, and would get the other actors together without me, giving them all the feedback. And I’m like, well, was he just trying to do some shit ways? I just don’t understand, I admit.

His tension with the director reached a breaking point during the filming of a motorboat scene at the end of the film, during which he almost completely left the scene.

I almost caught a flight and went home. I have finished. I had enough. They broke a lot of union things they shouldn’t have, like union rules. all kinds of things. “I just felt like, ‘If I don’t want to be here, then cancel it,'” the actor said.

There are other things I can do. I left Le Cordon Bleu to make this movie. I’m going to be a chef, which is what my mom wanted me to be anyway. I packed my bags that night. he said, adding that a producer intervened and urged him to stay, though the feud with the director continued.

I wanted to fight this guy two or three different times. One time I felt a legitimate reason, the other two I was angry, which is not right. I’m glad everyone talked to me.

In hindsight, I’m not upset, because that movie launched my entire career. I wouldn’t have any of the things I own without this movie, I wouldn’t have my wife, I wouldn’t have all the other movies I’ve made, I wouldn’t have this podcast. We will not be doing this interview. The actor admitted that I’m here because of this struggle and because of that pain and those things were.

While he added that it was, “a struggle to finish work every day” and he was “in pain every day”, he admitted that it helped prepare him for the film industry.

“Seems weird saying this – I’m forever grateful to Jim for being an a**hole because I haven’t met someone like this since,” he added.

I was prepared for every less gap in the business. And I’m sure he’s a hero in someone else’s story. I’m sure it helped someone else and they loved it. But for me, it just felt so frustrating,” the actor said.

He was a first-time director, he didn’t have a lot of time, he didn’t have the budget he wanted, he didn’t have the actor he wanted, he didn’t know how to deal with that frustration,” he said.

He added that his experience on the 1998 sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was, “Quite the opposite experience.”

The actor revealed that the second director, Danny Cannon, was “difficult to work with, but he also” never asked for anything from anyone that he wouldn’t ask for himself. “