“Never Been Kissed” star Michael Vartan, who played the young, attractive teacher who falls for Drew Barrymore while she’s posing undercover as a high school student for the sake of a newspaper article, says he was cast because he didn’t give off a “creepy vibe.”
“I don’t know if someone who had a darker disposition at the time, maybe the creep factor would have intensified it a bit,” Vartan, now 50, told Page Six. “But, if I’m a 30-year-old man and I think this girl is 17, it’s completely inappropriate.”
However, coming to his character Sam Coulson’s defense, Vartan added, “I don’t think he lusted for her. It certainly wasn’t a physical thing. I mean, obviously she’s beautiful, but I think … he just sort of fell for her as a human being. He’s just really taken by her spirit and her soul and, you know, maybe deep down inside he felt like there’s no way this girl is 17, but on the surface, a teacher hitting on a student of any gender for that matter who is underage is completely inappropriate.”
“Never Been Kissed,” which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, marked the beginning of Barrymore’s career as a producer and, for Vartan, one of his first major films.
“I had never wanted to be an actor ever,” Vartan told us. “I had no idea what I was doing. I remember the first week of shooting, I was concentrating more on not forgetting my lines or vomiting on Drew’s shoes rather than doing actual creative work because I was so nervous and I wanted to do so well.”
Vartan recalls his first day on set in the summer of 1998, in which he filmed a monologue about Shakespeare referencing hockey legend Gordie Howe.
“It was like doing live theater. I was terrified,” he laughed. “I had to do that monologue many times because there was a lot of … different angles and things like that, but it wasn’t too bad. My first-day torture didn’t last too long.”
Throughout the interview, Vartan’s admiration for Barrymore, who he says “fought” to cast him, was abundantly clear.
“[Drew] showed up on the first day of shooting in an old, beat up, white Volvo and from that moment on she was my hero,” Vartan recalled. “She was just one of the sweetest, nicest people and treated everyone equally, which [is] the way it should be, but unfortunately it isn’t always the case.”
Vartan explained the pair were truly bonded after filming the Ferris wheel scene together for three hours on a chilly night in Chicago.
“I really got to know her on a more sort of private level and it was such a thrill to be like, ‘I can’t believe you got me this job.'”
And though it’s been 20 years since the movie came out, Vartan still has one thing that will always bring him back to working with Barrymore.
“As a wrap gift she gave me this tiny little fern,” he said. “It couldn’t have been taller than you know maybe two feet. It was just like this tiny little fern that was perfect for my tiny little apartment at the time.”
He continued, “Twenty years later this fern is in my backyard and it is 25 feet tall and it has grown roots. It looks like a full-on tree now. And I’ve kept it. Believe it or not, a single bachelor kept a plant alive in his apartment.”
Unsurprisingly, the fern’s name is “Drew.”
“I always swore wherever I go I’m taking this fern with me because it was just such a sweet gesture and I really believed that that movie was so instrumental in me having any kind of career so that little fern that’s turned into this beautiful tree is very special meaning to me.”
After “Never Been Kissed,” which is currently streaming on HBO Now, Vartan went on to star in J.J. Abrams’ show “Alias” and most recently, E’s “The Arrangement.” He has a show in development but admitted that’s a fancy word for “nothing” at the moment.
Last year, Vartan’s dog Millie, who he’s referred to in interviews as the “love of my life,” passed away.
“I’m now thinking of getting into the fostering world because I love dogs,” he said, adding, “I’m not quite ready for another life partner, so maybe fostering a few dogs here and there until they find their forever home. A nice bridge to the next one, which I definitely will have.”