9. Comedian Dave Chappelle, then 24, was keen to play Kevin, Joe Fox’s business partner and dating guide, after regretting turning down a role in Forrest Gump. Efron gave Chappelle freedom to improvise. “I don’t think there was anyone else on the list,” writer-director Dreyer said on “Getting What She’s Got.” “He was a real pleasure and exactly what she thought he would be.”
10. Sara Ramirez played a cashier at Zabar’s cash line. This scene is based on an incident that occurred during the filming of Sleepless in Seattle. There, a bemused Efron witnessed his first AD have a similar effect on an airport concierge.
Oh, and this was the first and last time Zabar’s allowed a movie to be filmed inside the iconic grocery store. And they weren’t the only New Yorkers not at all excited about the big production sweeping the city.
During a shoot at an Upper West Side restaurant, a man started banging on the window and yelling, “Nora Ephron! Nora Ephron! I thought you loved this place? Why are you hanging out with us?!” According to cinematographer John Lindley. She was finally able to calm him down.
11. Chris Messina would play Mindy Kaling’s love interest (and internet boyfriend Danny Castellano) in The Mindy Project, but he actually had a small role in the movie. He played a clueless salesperson working at Fox Books who needs Kathleen’s expertise regarding Mary Noel Streatfield’s “The Shoe Books” series.
