M. Night Shyamalan is known for his work in horror and sci-fi, but before his big break with The Sixth Sense, he secretly made a 1999 teen comedy possible. M. Night Shyamalan’s career as a filmmaker began in 1998 with the comedy-drama Wide Awake, but he rose to fame as both a director and writer with the psychological horror thriller The Sixth Sense. Since then, Shyamalan has become best known for his work in the horror genre with movies like The Visit and Knock at the Cabin, as well as sci-fi with films like Signs and The Happening.

Shymalan has also served as either producer or writer (and sometimes both) in many other movies not directed by him, such as Stuart Little (which he co-wrote with Greg Brooker), John Erick Dowdle’s supernatural horror movie Devil, and his daughter’s, Ishana Night Shyamalan, directorial debut The Watchers. To the surprise of many, Shyamalan was also involved in a popular teen comedy from the 1990s, but his role in it was uncredited – however, it’s thanks to him that this movie was possible, as he pretty much made it into what it now is.

M. Night Shyamalan Was An Uncredited Writer In She’s All That

She’s All That Had A Surprise Writer

The 1990s saw a variety of teen comedies, and among the most popular ones is She’s All That. Directed by Robert Iscove and written by R. Lee Fleming Jr., She’s All That introduced viewers to Zack Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.), the most popular guy at school who, after returning from spring break, learned that his girlfriend, Taylor, cheated on him with reality TV star Brock (Matthew Lillard) and so broke up with him. After claiming she was replaceable, Zack’s friend, Dean (Paul Walker), made a bet with him: Zack must turn a random, “human mess” girl from school into the prom queen in six weeks.

Dean chose Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook), an awkward and unpopular art student, and so Zack began to get close to her. Of course, Zack ended up falling in love with Laney, and just as things seemed to be going well for them, Laney learned about the bet. She’s All That was a critical failure, with a 41% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it was a box office hit and has become one of the most popular teen comedies of the decade. In 2002, in an interview with In Focus, Shyamalan revealed he polished the script for She’s All That, which Iscove confirmed in the movie’s audio commentary.

In 2013, Shyamalan claimed in an interview with Movies that he ghost-wrote She’s All That, which, unsurprisingly, led to trouble with Fleming, the only credited writer. Of course, Shyamalan’s statement was disputed by Fleming, but later, Jach Lechner, Miramax’s head of development in the late 1990s, explained that both Fleming and Shyamalan contributed to the script (via EW): Fleming wrote the script that they bought, but Shyamalan did an uncredited rewrite that was more than a “polish” as he made it deeper and the characters richer, and it was Shyamalan’s rewrite what got the movie greenlit.

How Much Of M. Night Shyamalan Is In She’s All That?

She’s All That’s Final Cut Kept Some Of Shyamalan’s Additions

Shyamalan’s contributions to She’s All That made it to the final cut of the movie, according to producer Richard N. Gladstein. Speaking to E! in 2019, Gladstein revealed that Shyamalan’s additions to the script helped “enormously” with the relationship with Kevin Pollak, who played Laney’s father, though clarified that the script was “pretty much done” by the time it got to Shyamalan. In an interview with The Daily Beast, Iscove explained that Shyamalan addressed what the bet was about in his rewrite, added the performance art piece, and wrote a bit about what happened at the end of the party scene.

Last but not least, speaking to Decider, Fleming attributed Laney’s iconic line “am I a f***ing bet?!” to Shyamalan. M. Night Shyamalan is a lot more than horror and sci-fi movies with sometimes great and sometimes questionable plot twists, and he was key in making She’s All That as memorable as it is.

Sources: In Focus, Movies, EW, E!, The Daily Beast, Decider.