25 things you didn’t know about your favorite rom-coms

Maid in Manhattan: Famed director wanted the movie set in 1920

Who doesn’t love a classic tale of a poor woman falling in love with a rich man, but with a twist?

Maid In Manhattan, starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes, is a classic rom-com about forbidden love between a Latina hotel maid and a New York senatorial candidate. Plus, who could forget that breathtaking scene of Jennifer Lopez walking into the Met in that stunning pink gown?

But the movie was almost very different.

Maid in Manhattan was originally written as The Chambermaid (set in 1920s Chicago) by none other than John Hughes. The legendary filmmaker was set to direct the movie, and Hilary Swank was supposed to star in it. In January 2001, Hughes was listed as only a producer, but the film was moving forward. By that summer, both Hughes and Hilary Swank were out.

By the time the movie became the one we know and love now, stars like Sandra Bullock and Julia Roberts already passed on the lead role. So little of the original story remained in the end that Hughes didn’t want to be listed in the credits. He used the pseudonym “Edmond Dantès” instead.

This actually wasn’t the first time Hughes had done this. The late director/screenwriter used the pseudonym Edmond Dantès for the films Beethoven (1992) and Drillbit Taylor (2008). The name comes from the protagonist of Alexandre Dumas’s novel The Count of Monte Cristo.

Even though John Hughes is a legend, and his film probably would’ve been great too, we’re happy with how this one turned out!