Julia Butters Shares Her Favorite Easter Egg In Freakier Friday

Julia Butters couldn’t believe it when she found out she was going to star in Freakier Friday as Lindsay Lohan’s daughter Harper. That’s not just an expression — she really couldn’t comprehend landing the dream role. “The first thing I said was, ‘Are you serious?’ Because it felt like a prank call,” the 16-year-old actor from Los Angeles, California, tells Elite Daily.

As a fan of 2003’s Freaky Friday with Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis, Butters says she was “over the moon” to see that a reboot was happening. And once she learned of the “freakier” twist, she got to work studying her body-swap partner, Lohan.

Instead of one mother-daughter switch, the new movie involves a four-way body swap between Harper, Anna (Lohan), Tess (Curtis), and Anna’s soon-to-be stepdaughter, Lily (Sophia Hammons). Since Butters was going to be portraying Anna as Harper, she had to adopt some of Lohan’s mannerisms. “My first meeting with Lindsay was right before we were about to do movement coaching, and I was sitting, eating fruit snacks,” says Butters. “Lindsay walked in the room, and she just had this aura. She was like, ‘Hi, hello. It's so nice to meet you.’ And I was like, ‘Hi. You're so soft-spoken and magical.’”

After starring in Academy Award-nominated films like The Fabelmans and Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Butters knows a thing or two about being on a major film set. Still, she took notes from Lohan. “She taught me so much, and was just mentoring me,” she says. “She would be so collaborative on the character, and had great ideas, not only for Anna, but Harper as well.” Lohan’s passion also really stuck out to Butters. “She's just such a powerful person in the way that she feels emotion and the way that she is able to love people,” she says. “She's a caregiver and so sweet and calm, which is a nice energy to have on a set because it's so chaotic.”

The sequel balances a new storyline while bringing back the OG cast, like Chad Michael Murray as Jake, along with some familiar sets. “My favorite throwback moment is when we filmed at the house from the first movie, and I got to re-create the ‘...Baby One More Time’ scene with Sophia,” she says. “We sent it to Chad and he loved it.” Sadly, the house from Freaky Friday and Freakier Friday was lost to the Los Angeles fires in January. “It's really special that we got to give it that last boost, and it is now immortalized.”

Below, Butters, who recently partnered with Invisalign, shares her favorite day on set, her filming must-haves, and what the Freakier Friday group chat is really like.

Elite Daily: What were your must-haves on the Freakier Friday set?

Julia Butters: For reshoots, I had my Invisalign with me. You can see my aligners for a second. I didn't have Invisalign at first, so when I watched the movie back, I'm like, “Oh my gosh, my smile looks so much better in the reshoot stuff.” I can tell those little differences. Harper gets to have straighter teeth for some scenes.

ED: It’s like an extra Easter egg for fans to look for.

JB: Maybe don't look at my teeth for the entirety of the movie, but no, it was so fun.

ED: What was your favorite scene to film?

JB: I loved the surfing scenes, because it's not something I do all the time. My character is a surfer girl from LA, so she's super confident in those waves. I'm a little afraid of water, so it was kind of fun to try to push down that fear for a bit and be able to conquer it.

ED: Did you have to learn how to surf and play a guitar for this role?

JB: Yeah, I did get in the water much more than I usually would on a regular day for Harper, and then I did learn guitar for Anna. They were trying to figure out the performance scene for a long time. There were some scenarios where I would stay for “Take Me Away,” and there were some where I'd leave right before. It's such an important part of the movie for all the people who loved the first one, so I learned the guitar part for “Take Me Away,” even though we didn't use it.

ED: Does the cast have a group chat?

JB: Yeah, we have a group chat of the core four who switch, and we use that a lot for character work and scheduling. We also send good reviews to each other about the other person. Lindsay sent a good review talking about our mother-daughter dynamic, and then Jamie will send Sophia a highlight of her work. It's such a supportive little group chat.

ED: What is your favorite fictional band or singer other than Pink Slip?

JB: Would it be really lame if I stayed in the Freaky Friday realm and said Ella from Freakier Friday? My friend Maitreyi [Ramakrishnan] is killing it as a pop girl.

I would love to see what a Parent Trap sequel would look like.

ED: If you could swap places with any of Lindsay's previous characters, who would it be?

JB: Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen was so good fashion-wise, so I would say that.

ED: What's another iconic early 2000s movie you'd want to see given a sequel?

JB: I would love to see what a Parent Trap sequel would look like. Seeing Lindsay as Annie and Hallie again would be really exciting. She always plays two roles in her movies. I love that for her.

ED: What's something you never leave the house without?

JB: My purse, which has hand sanitizer, my aligners, mints, and my phone.

ED: Whose wardrobe from the cast would you want to raid?

JB: The only clear answer here is Lily because she's a fashion designer, and that's her passion. Sophia would pull up on set, and I'd be like, “You're a Monster High doll right now. Do you realize that? You look like a Bratz doll.”

ED: What's your go-to comfort watch?

JB: Parent Trap was one of the first Lindsay movies I've ever seen, and now that I've worked with her and I know how sweet she is, it makes it even more comforting. I love seeing tiny baby Lindsay kill it like that.

Taking a break is going to be so necessary for me. I only have so many teenage years.

ED: What's your go-to karaoke song?

JB: I sing a lot of Alanis Morissette. “Ironic” is just great. I love screaming into a mic. Just so freeing.

ED: What's a city you wouldn't mind moving to?

JB: I've been to New York a lot and I really like it there. It just feels like everything is close by, and I feel kind of at home there. I wouldn't mind moving there for a bit just to see what it's like. It's kind of fun to say that you did it. I feel like everyone I talk to about New York is like, “Yeah, I lived there for a year.” Maybe that's a canon event that I have to scratch off my list.

ED: What are you manifesting for yourself next?

JB: Taking a break is going to be so necessary for me. I only have so many teenage years. A lot of people ask me, “Where do you see yourself in 20 years from now?” And I'm like, “I hope happy and confident.” Career-wise, I would like to just explore other genres. I now have a body swap comedy down. I can't wait to see what unexpected things come next.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.