Clueless actress Emma Flynn is so much like her stage character that people are struggling to separate the two.
Emma plays high school fashionista Cher in the musical of the cult film and says she can totally relate. She tells: “I am very Clueless! I had my own journey of thinking I knew what was up with the world – then kind of realising very slowly, when I went to college, maybe I actually know nothing.” Keelan McAuley, who stars as Josh, agrees: “I think you’re a lot like Chemma… There you go, I can’t even differentiate you. Emma is so much like Cher, it’s crazy.”
Amy Heckerling’s adaptation of her own 1995 hit movie premiered off-Broadway in New York in 2018. It’s now in London’s West End until September, with all-new music by KT Tunstall. Emma says she grew up watching the film and taking on the role of Cher – originally played by Alicia Silverstone – is a dream. She admits the private school she attended in New Hampshire had elements of the Beverly Hills one in the film.
Emma explains: “I did get exposed to a level of wealth that I didn’t know existed, so that was like a little bit kind of close. I recall I went to this girl’s house… she had a carriage house. I was like, what’s a carriage house? And it’s basically a second house. She had this huge room. I grew up with a big family – I had five sisters – and we all shared a room. She was like, ‘This is the dress I’m wearing to the Grammys. We go every year, it’s a family thing.’ I was just like, oh my god. This is crazy.”
Clueless is Emma’s first UK role but she has quickly become acclimatised to the British ways. She says: “I love it here, everyone’s so polite. I talk directly to the audience throughout and sometimes I look an audience member in the eyes and they’ll wanna look away. They’re so polite that they don’t know that they can engage. I’ve had to adjust to the food, but I love a Sunday roast. I’ve eaten so many pastries.”
Emma is even hoping for a very British role as her next career move. She says: “I hope I get to do a panto while I’m here. That would be so fun.” Oh yes it would.
The show kicked off this month at the Trafalgar Theatre in London and stays true to the original. It’s a spectacle on the eyes, with Emma alone having 12 plus outfit changes. “I’m wrapped up like a Christmas present and need three people to change me,” she said.
Taking on the mantel of Cher’s step brother/love interest Josh – originally played by Paul Rudd – Keelan hopes the Marvel star comes to see him in the show. “I know he went to the Off Broadway show. I would love for him to come to this, but he’s off being a Marvel star so understandable if he doesn’t.”
He says his school life couldn’t be further from Clueless. “It was inner city school,” explained Canadian Keelan. “There was a lot of violence, drugs, bullying… the arts program was still great. But not like Clueless at all.”
Geordie Romona Lewis-Malley feels an affinity to her character Tai, the new girl at school, having moved from the north east to London to pursue her acting dreams. “I moved from the north to London and there are so many parallels with the out-of-place missive – seeing how you navigate making friends, new relationships, how people take you in,” she said. Sharing a dressing room with Emma, Romona says she’s been giving her a lesson in Geordie dialect. “I said ‘I feel like the only way you could understand the differences is maybe watch Billy Elliot.”
While Chyna-Rose Frederick, who plays Dionne, admits she’d never watched the film before her audition. “I’m an imposter because I hadn’t watched the film!” she coughed. “But I was always aware of it, especially Dionne and Murray. In like black culture, everyone’s first crush was Dionne or Murray or both.” She even turned to friends for her audition outfit. She recalled: “Everyone dressed up as Dionne for Halloween so for my audition I had to message my friends and be like, ‘Can I use one of your Dion Halloween costumes?’”
Clueless: The Musical continues at the Trafalgar Theatre, London until 27 September 2025
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