Rachael Leigh Cook reunites with costars for 20th anniversary of Josie And The Pussycats

It’s been 20 years since this female empowerment-centered film rocked on to the scene, and these three leading ladies reunited virtually to mark the occasion.

Rachael Leigh Cook, Rosario Dawson and Tara Reid got together virtually on YouTube Friday ahead of the 20th anniversary of their movie Josie and the Pussycats, which debuted on April 11, 2001.

The Universal Pictures film was based on the Archie Comics series, which had already been adapted into a Hanna Barbera cartoon.

‘I’m thrilled that people have continued to watch our movie and that it’s only somehow gained steam over the years,’ said Cook, now 41, who played Josie McCoy.

She went on to say that the movie is one of the few projects she did ‘that many years ago’ that she can still watch today without cringing. 

‘This is one of the only movies that I’ve done that I can actually happily watch!’ Cook joked with her former castmates.

Rosario, also 41, remarked that the film was ‘ahead of its time,’ also talking about how lovely it was to be in a movie with three female leads. 

‘You watch it now, and it so resonates with the moment that we’re in, but at the time, I think it was hard for people to totally appreciate the satire that it was,’ The Mandalorian actress, who portrayed Valerie Brown in Josie, said.  

Reid, 45, played Melodie Valentine in the movie, and shared with her costars, ‘I can’t tell you how many places I’ve gone and they’re like, “My favorite movie that you’ve done is Josie and the Pussycats!”

‘It means so much to me how much they love it, because it meant so much to us,’ the Sharknado star added. ‘When we made this film, we had the best time ever.’

She went on to share some of her favorite memories from making the movie, like when they ‘worked really hard’ to learn to play their instruments and she was drumming on stage in front of a live audience of extras. 

‘Honestly, I really thought I was a rockstar at the time!’ Tara enthused. 

Dawson also reminisced about the time when Cook got fed up with stuffing her real hair under Josie’s iconic red shaggy wig, and eventually buzzed it off to make it easier.

‘I remember you wearing that wig everyday, because that red hair was a wig,’ Rosario recalled.

‘You were putting your hair in and trying to fold it in, and one day, you were like, “Screw that! I’m cutting this off.” And you buzzed your hair so it was easier for you to get ready in the mornings.’

Rachael then jokingly remarked, ‘I really wish you had talked me out of that!’ 

While Josie and the Pussycats initially stalled at the box office and received mixed reviews, it was become something of an early-aughts cult classic.

And in today’s age of remake- and reboot-friendly fare, at least two of Josie’s leading ladies have been involved in other reunion specials from projects of years gone by.

In 2012, Reid reprised her role of the wise Vicky in American Reunion, an update to the famed American Pie franchise started back in 1999.

And Cook has signed on to star in a gender-swapped reimagining of arguably her most famous movie She’s All That, also from 1999 – which will be aptly titled He’s All That.