As if! Elisa Donovan and Alicia Silverstone went back in time for their Clueless-themed Super Bowl LVII ad for Rakuten — and it was a blast from the past.
“It was, wow, very surreal to walk into that [set] and have it look nearly identical to the classroom scene,” Donovan, 52, exclusively told Us Weekly on February 1 of the commercial. “And [to] have [Alicia’s character Cher] in her yellow plaid … I looked at Alicia and said, ‘Am I hallucinating right now? What is going on?’”
In the ad, which was released on Monday, February 6, Silverstone, 46, slips back into character as Cher Horowitz to debate her movie rival Amber (Donovan) as she did in the ‘90s film.
“The commercial is for Rakuten, the online shopping app, which is obviously the most perfect marriage made in heaven for this film,” Donovan teased to Us. “It’s an homage to essentially the debate scene between Cher and Amber — and it goes to all sorts of other little spots that will be recognizable around L.A. And it’s really VERY funny.”
Both actresses slipped into their old ways in the clip. Silverstone wore her iconic yellow plaid two-piece set to become Cher and played with her gum while Donovan rolled her eyes as Amber and threw up a “whatever” sign.
“I used to be pretty clueless about shopping,” Silverstone says in the commercial, slipping into her Cher voice. “Like, when I heard I could save by getting cash back with Rakuten, I was like, ‘As if!’ But then I was like, ‘Uh, why didn’t I do this sooner?’”
After being transported to Cher’s closet, Beverly Hills mansion and then back to their high school classroom, Donovan’s Amber tries to get in the last word. “Um, hello … do I even get a rebuttal?” she says, before making a “w” with her fingers. “Whatever.”
While the actresses appeared at ease with one another on set, Donovan told Us that it had been a long time since she’d worked with Silverstone.
“We hadn’t seen each other since … I mean, my daughter was a baby. I wanna say she was an infant,” the former Clueless TV series actress recalled. “So her son, [Bear], was maybe a year and a half or something. So it’s been a long time since we had seen each other and I’ve never been on screen with her since.” (Donovan shares daughter Scarlett, 10, with husband Charlie Bigelow, while Silverstone shares son Bear, 11, with ex-husband Christopher Jarecki.)
The Wake Me When You Leave author noted that the reunion was “so much fun” and “really bizarre” after working together in 1995.
“It was surreal to be a grown-up. I mean, we were so young,” Donovan said. “So much time has passed. We have children and jobs and husbands and, you know, ex-husbands. It was surreal for sure.”
The Dog Who Saved Christmas actress told Us that her reunion onscreen with Silverstone is recent, but she is still friends with the Baby-Sitters Club alum — and one other Clueless costar: Donald Faison.
“I’m in touch with Donald often. We communicate, we message each other,” Donovan explained. “I have seen Alicia recently. Those are the two that really I have kept in touch with. I haven’t seen anyone else.”
The Sabrina the Teenage Witch alum also teased all of the Clueless characters her daughter will like when she finally watches the rom-com.
“I bet she will probably love Travis [Breckin Meyer‘s character]. He is alternative and he’s a skater,” Donovan said. “And she knows that Donald and I are friends, so she’s probably gonna like Murray. Now that I’m thinking about it, she’ll probably love Brittany [Murphy’s] character. My daughter’s a non-conformist like me.”
With reporting by Angela Cuseo
