79 Fun Facts About 13 Going on 30

13 Going on 30 opened a week before which teen comedy?

Mean Girls opened on April 30, 2004 and went straight to number one, pushing 13 Going on 30 down to third place in its second weekend.

Who directed 13 Going on 30?

Gary Winick came from independent film: his company InDigEnt made low-budget digital features, and he sold his own Tadpole at Sundance before taking on this studio comedy.

In 13 Going on 30, young Jenna says: "I don't want to be original, Matty, I want to be" what?

Cool is what she picks over Matty's advice to be an original; at 30 she has got her wish and admits to him that she has no real friends.

Why does newly adult Jenna refuse to get into Lucy's car?

She never rides with strangers, and to a 13-year-old mind Lucy is one; Lucy, who thinks they are best friends, just tells her she is being paranoid.

What is the nickname of Lucy Wyman, the leader of the school's ruling clique?

Tom-Tom has shed the nickname by 30: Jenna only learns that Lucy, her co-editor and best friend, is her old tormentor when Matty shows her their high school yearbook.

Under what title was 13 Going on 30 released in Australia?

Suddenly 30 was the Australian title, and it is the literal one: Jenna wakes one morning as a 30-year-old with no memory of the seventeen years in between.

The writers of 13 Going on 30 had earlier written which Mel Gibson film?

What Women Want, in which Mel Gibson's ad man starts hearing women's thoughts, was the same writers' first magic-premise hit; they reworked the trick here with a birthday wish.

In 13 Going on 30, how does young Jenna answer Matty's "Arrivederci"?

"Au revoir" completes the best friends' private goodbye; when Jenna starts the routine at 30, the grown-up Matty just says he'll see her, and gives the old reply only after she calls him back.

In which US state does 13-year-old Jenna live in 13 Going on 30?

New Jersey is where a miserable adult Jenna flees home to her parents, and her mother's advice about learning from mistakes sends her back to Manhattan to put things right.

What is the name of the popular clique Jenna longs to join in 13 Going on 30?

The Six Chicks are a closed shop, as Matty points out: a seventh member is mathematically impossible. In the life her wish creates, Jenna ends up leading them.

How does Jenna persuade the popular girls to come to her thirteenth birthday party?

By doing their homework: Jenna offers to write the clique's group project, and they collect it at her party and then walk out on her.

What handmade gift does young Matty give Jenna for her birthday?

A dollhouse stays with Matty through seventeen years of estrangement, and he hands it back to Jenna on his wedding day.

What does Matty sprinkle on his gift to make it magic?

Wishing dust comes with a promise to make all her dreams come true; it showers onto Jenna as she makes her wish, and she wakes up aged 30.

What is the name of Jenna's teenage crush in 13 Going on 30?

Chris Grandy is the bait in the popular girls' prank: they tell Jenna he wants a turn alone with her, then leave the party with him.

The popular girls trick Jenna into which party game at her thirteenth birthday?

Seven minutes in heaven leaves Jenna blindfolded in a closet waiting for her crush while every guest slips out of the house; it is Matty who opens the door.

In 13 Going on 30, Jenna wishes to be "thirty and flirty and" what?

Thriving ends a phrase Jenna has just read in her favourite magazine, in an article selling 30 as the perfect age, which is why that is the age she wishes for.

What does young Matty call the popular girls Jenna invites to her party in 13 Going on 30?

Clones is his word for girls he finds totally unoriginal; Jenna insists they are her friends, then has to admit that the truth is only "almost".

In 13 Going on 30, adult Jenna is an editor at which fashion magazine?

Poise is the magazine 13-year-old Jenna holds up to say she wants to look like "these people"; her mother's answer is that they aren't people, they're models.

What is the name of the rival magazine that is beating Jenna's own in 13 Going on 30?

Sparkle keeps beating Jenna's magazine to its own ideas, which convinces her boss that someone on his staff is leaking them.

Which British actor plays editor-in-chief Richard Kneeland in 13 Going on 30?

Andy Serkis is best known for motion-capture creatures that hide him completely; here he shows his own face as Jenna's prissy editor-in-chief.

In 13 Going on 30, in which New York neighbourhood does Jenna track down the adult Matty?

Greenwich Village is where Jenna turns up expecting her best friend, only for Matty to tell her they have not spoken since high school.

What is adult Matty's profession in 13 Going on 30?

Photographer: his pictures are nothing like her glossy magazine's usual style, which is exactly why Jenna hires him for her pitch.

In 13 Going on 30, Matty's fiancee Wendy wants him to move with her to which city?

Chicago is where Wendy presents the TV weather; she is pressing Matty to join her there rather than start their marriage as a commuter couple.

In 13 Going on 30, what does Jenna's make-or-break presentation at the magazine propose?

A rebrand is forced on the magazine: its owners will pull the plug unless sales recover, so Jenna pitches pages of real women in place of models.

In 13 Going on 30, how does Lucy land the top job at the rival magazine?

She uses Jenna's presentation, taking the whole pitch to the rival; to do it she tricks Matty into signing over his work by telling him Jenna had dropped it.

In 13 Going on 30, whom does Lucy unmask as the magazine's real saboteur?

Jenna herself: in the years she cannot remember, she had been passing ideas to the rival in return for the promise of its editor-in-chief job.

In 13 Going on 30, where does Matty's wedding take place?

At his childhood home, next door to the house Jenna grew up in: when he turns her down, she walks over to her parents' place and breaks down.

Which Talking Heads song is on the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack?

"Burning Down the House" dates from 1983, and one reviewer grumbled that hits like it were too old for a girl turning 13 in 1987, as if the script had sat unrevised for years.

Who plays the 13-year-old Jenna in 13 Going on 30?

Christa B. Allen has kept the role alive as an adult: on Halloween 2020 one of her most-watched videos recreated grown-up Jenna's getting-ready scene, dress and all.

The young Jenna of 13 Going on 30 again played a teenage Jennifer Garner in which 2009 film?

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past retells A Christmas Carol with Matthew McConaughey as a womaniser haunted by his exes; Garner is the one who got away, so the flashbacks needed her younger self.

Jennifer Garner made 13 Going on 30 a year after playing which Marvel assassin in Daredevil?

Elektra had shown Garner as an action star; the comedy's producers hired her knowing she had never led one, and Variety put her knack for physical comedy down to all that stunt work.

Which future Academy Award winner appears as one of the popular girls in 13 Going on 30?

Brie Larson has only a small part as a school bully; fifteen years later she and the film's leading man were fellow heroes in Avengers: Endgame.

Which future Pretty Little Liars star appears as one of the popular girls in 13 Going on 30?

Ashley Benson plays a schoolgirl bully here; six years later she was on the receiving end as Hanna Marin, one of the friends tormented by the anonymous "A".

Which stand-up comedian plays the grown-up version of Jenna's teenage crush in 13 Going on 30?

Jim Gaffigan plays the letdown: the boy every girl wanted at 13 is, at 30, a taxi driver who still lives at home and wants Jenna's number.

Jennifer Garner shot 13 Going on 30 during a break from which TV series?

Alias had made her a television star; the film's producers say she was always their first choice, and they waited almost a year for a gap in her schedule.

Which fashion house made Jenna's multicoloured party dress in 13 Going on 30?

Versace made the minidress, and the film made it famous: it became a popular Halloween costume, and Ariana Grande wore the same look on The Voice in 2021.

In 13 Going on 30, which board game does Jenna hope to play on a night in with her boyfriend?

Battleship is what the 13-year-old inside takes "playing games" to mean; when Alex turns out to own no board games at all, she and her young neighbour agree that boys are stupid.

Mark Ruffalo almost walked away from 13 Going on 30 over which scene?

The Thriller dance nearly cost the film its leading man: Ruffalo hated rehearsing the routine and was slow to learn it, though the producers say he ended up great in it.

13 Going on 30's composer later won Emmys for which series?

Severance brought Theodore Shapiro Emmys in 2022 and 2025; before its unsettling score he was a go-to composer for comedies such as Dodgeball and The Devil Wears Prada.

In 13 Going on 30, what does adult Matty first assume when Jenna says she was 13 yesterday?

That she is on drugs: he asks whether she is high, then runs through pot, ecstasy and ketamine before she can explain; the two of them have not seen each other since high school.

Which Whitney Houston hit is on the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack?

"I Wanna Dance with Somebody" topped the US chart in 1987, the very year of Jenna's 13th birthday; the film plays it as she dresses up for her first grown-up party.

Which Rick Springfield song appears on the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack?

"Jessie's Girl" is by 13-year-old Jenna's crush; Rick Springfield has said he is thrilled that films like this keep reviving it, because all a writer can ask is that a song has legs.

Which 1990 rap hit sneaks onto the mostly-eighties soundtrack of 13 Going on 30?

"Ice Ice Baby" came out three years after the birthday party Jenna vanishes from, so it belongs to the seventeen years she skipped rather than to her own childhood.

Which Billy Joel song is on the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack?

"Vienna" plays as Jenna goes home to her parents and cries in her old closet; one critic credits the film with the 1977 album track's long afterlife among younger listeners.

Which Madonna song plays when Jenna returns to 1987 and again over the finale of 13 Going on 30?

"Crazy for You" was a late choice for the ending: the music supervisor dropped a Queen song and had the composer lay a 60-piece orchestra over Madonna's recording.

In 13 Going on 30, what does Lucy first assume when Jenna starts acting strangely in the car?

That she is pregnant: Lucy blurts it out when Jenna asks whether they are really best friends, and is openly relieved when the answer is a horrified no.

13 Going on 30 opened at number two behind which Denzel Washington thriller?

Man on Fire opened the same day and won the weekend by less than $2 million, even though it was playing in about 450 fewer cinemas than the comedy.

Mark Ruffalo also played a detective in which 2004 thriller?

Collateral cast him as the narcotics detective whose suspicions about the night's first killing bring him ever closer to Tom Cruise's hitman and the cab driver he has taken hostage.

Judy Greer, Lucy in 13 Going on 30, was again the heroine's friend and colleague in 27 Dresses, opposite which star?

Katherine Heigl played the perpetual bridesmaid and Greer her blunt workmate Casey; unlike Lucy, this friend stays loyal to the end.

Variety's review named which earlier comedy as the "most obvious predecessor" of 13 Going on 30?

Big was the template: in 1988 a boy's wish at a carnival fortune-teller machine turned him into Tom Hanks overnight, and this film hands the same wish to a girl.

Which critic believed 13 Going on 30's magic but not its magazine?

Roger Ebert closed his lukewarm review by saying the story should have been a musical; two decades later its writers turned it into one for the stage.

The 2006 DVD re-release of 13 Going on 30 carried what subtitle?

The Fun and Flirty Edition came out in February 2006 with new packaging and extras; DVD Talk's reviewer admitted he had expected little and was won over by the film itself.

The 13 Going on 30 stage musical had its world premiere in 2025 in which city?

Manchester saw it first, in September 2025, because the show was built in Britain: its public workshop performances had been held in London two years earlier.

Lynn Collins, Matty's fiancée Wendy in 13 Going on 30, later starred opposite Taylor Kitsch in which Disney epic?

John Carter cast her as the Martian princess Dejah Thoris; the film lost Disney about $200 million, yet one leading critic called her its best character.

Which former UK Eurovision entrant played Jenna in the 13 Going on 30 stage musical?

Lucie Jones first found fame on The X Factor in 2009, then rebuilt herself as a West End lead in Les Misérables and Waitress before creating Jenna on stage.

13 Going on 30's stage director also staged which London musical?

Heathers was already director Andy Fickman's calling card, staged in Los Angeles, Off-Broadway and London; several actors in the new show's first workshop had Heathers on their CVs too.

Who was cast as Jenna in the Netflix remake of 13 Going on 30 announced in 2026?

Emily Bader takes over the role with the original Jenna's blessing: Jennifer Garner is an executive producer of the remake and filmed a cameo alongside her in 2026.

Kathy Baker, Jenna's mother in 13 Going on 30, won three Emmys for which drama series?

Picket Fences cast her as Jill Brock, a doctor in a small Wisconsin town where bizarre things keep happening; in the film she gets the wise line that mistakes are how you learn to put things right.

Phil Reeves, Jenna's father in 13 Going on 30, later played a city manager on which sitcom?

Parks and Recreation made him Paul Iaresco, whose heart attack in the middle of a press conference is what brings Chris Traeger back to town as acting city manager.

Susan Egan, who plays Tracy Hansen in 13 Going on 30, originated which Disney heroine on Broadway?

Belle in Beauty and the Beast brought her a Tony nomination in 1994, and Disney then cast her against that sweetness as the voice of the cynical Megara in Hercules.

Sean Marquette, young Matty in 13 Going on 30, voiced which character in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends?

Mac is the eight-year-old whose mother makes him give up his imaginary friend; the whole series turns on his promise to visit the home every day so that nobody else adopts Bloo.

Which secret agent was Jennifer Garner playing on television when she made 13 Going on 30?

Sydney Bristow, a double agent forever in disguise, won Garner a Golden Globe in the show's first season; its creator, J. J. Abrams, had written the part with her in mind.

Judy Greer, who plays Lucy in 13 Going on 30, voiced which character on the animated series Archer?

Cheryl Tunt, the train-wreck secretary, stayed Greer's role for Archer's whole run; just before it began in 2009, she said people recognised her most for Arrested Development or whichever of her films was on TV.

Which candy do Jenna and Matty share throughout 13 Going on 30?

Razzles are "for kids", 13-year-old Jenna sniffs before taking some anyway; the film's last line has her, now married to Matty, offering him one.

Mark Ruffalo, Matty in 13 Going on 30, went on to play which Marvel superhero?

Hulk came to him second-hand: he replaced Edward Norton as Bruce Banner for The Avengers in 2012, then played the part across the next decade of Marvel films.

In 13 Going on 30, what sport does adult Jenna's boyfriend play professionally?

Ice hockey. Jenna first sees Alex as a naked man in her shower, and their make-out scene ends when the 13-year-old inside her decides he is gross.

Ariana Grande paid tribute to 13 Going on 30 in the video for which 2018 hit?

Thank U, Next. The video also restaged Bring It On and Legally Blonde, and the film's star replied online that the tribute had brightened her day.

Which Benatar hit rallies 13 Going on 30's sleepover?

Love Is a Battlefield. Jenna answers a 13-year-old's gloom about boys by reciting its chorus as a pep talk, then dances to it with the teenagers from her building.

The two leads of 13 Going on 30 reunited as a married couple in which 2022 film starring Ryan Reynolds?

The Adam Project. They play the hero's parents but share the screen only after more than an hour; after 18 years apart, the actress joked, what was another 70 minutes?

Which singer-songwriter's 2003 hit "Why Can't I?" is on the 13 Going on 30 soundtrack?

Liz Phair. "Why Can't I?" came from the pop makeover album that Pitchfork scored 0.0 out of 10, a review its critic publicly apologised for in 2019.

In 13 Going on 30, Jenna swaps her lemonade order for what?

A piña colada. She adds "not virgin" and volunteers to show her ID, boasting that she totally has one.

In 13 Going on 30, Matty says he stopped trusting Lucy after she stole what from him in third grade?

His Pop Rocks. It is his way of telling Jenna, minutes before his wedding, that Lucy's lies about her had never fooled him.

In 13 Going on 30, Jenna tells rival editor Trish Sackett she is "rude and mean and sloppy and" what?

Frizzy. Trish had crashed the party to gloat that her J. Lo issue was selling like hotcakes, and answers that she cares about winning, not being liked.

Which actor was cast as the male romantic lead in Netflix's remake of 13 Going on 30, announced in March 2026?

Logan Lerman. The original film's star gave the remake her blessing by signing on as an executive producer, then turned up on set to film a cameo.

Judy Greer, the Lucy of 13 Going on 30, subtitled her 2014 memoir "Confessions of a" what?

Co-Star. The full title is I Don't Know What You Know Me From, the question strangers keep asking an actress who calls herself the ultimate movie best friend.

Don Burgess, who shot 13 Going on 30, earned an Oscar nomination for which Robert Zemeckis film?

Forrest Gump. Burgess had been stuck shooting second unit until work on the Back to the Future sequels put him in front of Zemeckis, who then made him director of photography on this one.

Jennifer Garner was born in Houston but grew up where?

Charleston, West Virginia. She and her two sisters grew up there with no makeup, nail polish or pierced ears, a long way from the glossy magazine editor she plays here.

The director of 13 Going on 30 followed it with which 2006 live-action film of a classic children's book?

Charlotte's Web. His Tadpole, shot on digital video for about $150,000, had won him the directing prize at Sundance and a sale to Miramax, and studio films like these followed.

In 13 Going on 30, what mocking nickname does the popular clique's leader use for young Matty?

Beaver. She greets him by asking how everything is at the dam, and seventeen years later the grown-up Lucy still slips and calls him that.