BURR: We always knew Pink Slip had to play a role [in the new movie]. First of all, we loved Pink Slip. I’ve worked on lots of movies in my career, and lots of movies with music, and lots of musicals, and it’s rare that you can still remember every word to every song from Pink Slip – well, you know, [their] two songs, now two and a half, maybe three, if we count [new track] “Baby.” We knew that Pink Slip had to come back.

There was a time where we discussed that Lindsay was still part of Pink Slip. Music was such a big part of [Anna’s] life in the first movie that it would seem disingenuous — or, to be honest, sad — if she didn’t have music still in her life.

LOHAN: I think this time it came a little bit easier — because it was a reunion for us first, and then it was like, “OK, let’s do it.” It felt like it was just yesterday. It felt very comfortable.

HALEY HUDSON (Peg): It did!

VIDAL: It’s almost like no time passed. When we first saw each other, it was just kind of like, “I feel like we just did this” — it was definitely not just, but like that. There’s a natural chemistry too with us, performing and just being friends. We always got along on set. So it was just like [Lindsay] said: It was just already there.

BURR: Obviously we wanted to bring back Haley and Christina, because they were such big parts of the first film and had real roles in the first film, so it became a discussion later, when we were going to bring Pink Slip back for real: Can we get the other cast?

There was a moment, because MUNA plays a part in our movie — they play Ella’s band [the gen Z pop star portrayed by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in Freakier Friday]– but MUNA had released a single of “Take Me Away,” where they dressed in Pink Slip costumes and performed it, and it went viral. And we all loved it, so we wanted to make them part of it. So there was a moment we were like, “Should they be part of Pink Slip now?” And then I think for nostalgia purposes, and because it felt like, “No, we should have all of Pink Slip” … and so we found [drummer Ethan, played by Chris Carlberg, and bassist Scott, played by Danny Rubin] and reached out to them, and both the guys were excited to and available to come. So we made it work.

SHINN: We made some demos, made some mock-ups, and then it was like, “OK, Lindsay’s coming in, Julia Butters [Anna’s daughter Harper], Christina, Haley are coming in [to record].” And just like, trying to honor Pink Slip and what it was 22 years ago, the girls in the garage band. And like, where are they now? Where are they two decades later? How has their sound changed? How have their influences changed? And then I got to be in Ella’s band too. It’s just so many cool dreams and really special moments. It felt like rock and roll. It felt like the spirit of Freaky Friday was in Freakier Friday.

VIDAL: I think we actually did talk about, like, “Are we still cool?” I really felt that way! I just feel like Lindsay and Haley are just effortlessly cool, honestly. Like, you guys just are — whereas I felt like I had to figure out how to be. Like, I’m in a robe all day with a top bun. How do I get into this? Am I gonna look like an old lady? But like Lindsay said, the fanbase is so…

LOHAN: Loyal.

VIDAL: Loyal! It’s just, it’s so built in. And I was surprised that there were some 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds that were like, “We’re so excited to see you in the new movie!” I’m like, “Me? I’m so old! You’re excited to see me?” So I think the band itself just has its own thing that stuck.

HUDSON: Totally. And a lot of bands were inspired by Pink Slip as well, like MUNA.

VIDAL: Yeah! That was so cool to see the covers.

SHINN: I mean, they’re such pros. I feel like they were all rehearsing with Amir [Derakh], guitar training, doing voice lessons with Fiora [Cutler]. And then it came, I think, very naturally. They know these songs. They know these songs really, really well. And then, premiere week, we got the full band together and rehearsed at [Burbank, California, rehearsal space] CenterStaging, and went crazy, like 10 hours a day of rehearsal, and then played shows. And everyone was so natural. It was like — I just joined, in a way — but it felt like we’ve been doing it forever, you know? And they’re like sisters. It’s a really fun dynamic.

BURR: We shot [the final Pink Slip concert scene] at The Wiltern [in Los Angeles]. We were there for four days, and I’ve never had more people ask to visit set than on those days. Everybody wanted to see Pink Slip. It was sort of when I knew it was going to work on some level, when I was looking at a sea of millennial friends all in tears as we watched. And by the way, I was crying too. It was so great. Everyone looked great, everyone sounded great. It was just like a pinnacle of all the things we’d been talking about. And the end of the movie had to feel like this big scene, and it was. We were hoping that it was going to work emotionally but it was also going to feel big because of the music, and I think it accomplished both. But I mean, when I looked around, there was not a dry eye in the house, and it was tears of joy. I knew we had something.