Judy Greer is a leading lady — and the best wingwoman around. The actress’ career is packed with scene-stealing roles, most notably her work in romantic comedies such as The Wedding Planner, 13 Going on 30 and 27 Dresses.
The Halloween Kills actress, 46, first took on the role of Penny in 2001’s The Wedding Planner opposite Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. She played the ditzy yet loveable assistant to Lopez’s Mary, who squealed in delight for Mary and Steve’s (McConaughey) love connection — and freaked out when guests at one reception smashed plates to celebrate.
“Penny was great. It was a big deal when I got that part,” Greer exclusively told Us Weekly. “And I think I was the first person to audition for the role and they saw so many people and they gave it to me. They just circled back. And it was so meaningful at the time.”
Three years later, the Lady of the Manor star would appear in fan-favorite 13 Going on 30 with Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. Her character, Lucy, would turn out to backstab her so-called best friend Jenna (Garner) and become the worst Poise magazine editor ever.
Funnily enough, Lopez, 52, would be featured on the cover of Poise’s competitor magazine Sparkle in the movie.
“I don’t remember how that happened!” Greer told Us. “But I did steal a mug that says Poise on it, that I drink my coffee from at least two days a week.”
Greer and Garner, 49, have remained close through the years. In January, the Alias alum posted an Instagram photo of the pair wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “Always the smartest. Always the funniest. Always the biggest @dodgers fan in the room. I love @missjudygreer. 
#TeamJG p.s. Hey, JG — remember how I said I wasn’t going to post you? 
Sorry, but you’re cute,” she wrote.
The Jurassic World star would again be a supportive coworker in 2008’s 27 Dresses alongside Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman and Edward Burns. Although she’s never reprised these key roles, Greer feels like there’s been sequel rumors about “all of them” at one point or another.
“People are desperate to make sequels of everything these days. Which I’m like, ‘Really guys? The well is dry? Nothing can be their own thing anymore?’ But, hey, I wouldn’t say no. That’s for sure,” she told Us. “Because I loved making all of them!”
Scroll through to see what Greer had to say about each standout role:
“I think Penny definitely would have embraced internet dating, like, online dating. I think that would have been her way out. I feel like she definitely had sex with, like, all the grooms at most of her weddings accidentally. So many of my lines in that movie were my own improv and it just felt [great] as a young actress to be given that kind of trust. I remember [director] Adam Shankman would always be like, ‘You have to give me one from the script and then say whatever the f—k you want. I don’t care.’ And so I'm not saying anything against the screenwriters. They were amazing. But it was really nice to be able to just riff and to be trusted like that at such a young age. That was flattering.”
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“I just loved it so much. That was like lightning in a bottle. Just every second of every day was so special. When it was over, I cried and I just wished it would have been a TV show so it could've gone on and on forever. And that movie is just amazing. People still just love it so much and they still talk about it. I still get stopped on the street. Even men will be like, ‘I watch it with my daughter all the time. She and my wife watch it all the time and I find myself watching it with them.’ It’s so cute. It's just a good-hearted film. But I really liked that role and Lucy was so crazy because Lucy was really bitchy. And when that movie came out, people were very angry at me. I’ve never had that before with fans, where they would come up to me and be like, ‘You’re mean!’ And I'm like, ‘You know I’m an actor, right? That's a role I was playing and I'm not actually a mean person.’ But since no one ever thinks I'm a mean person it was also kind of nice too. Like, ‘See, I can be mean! I don’t have to be nice all the time.’”
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“27 Dresses was so fun because that character was very different. She was over it. It was really fun to play someone who was constantly rolling their eyes. I think that's like the Aubrey Plaza role, like, Aubrey Plaza would have played that role if it had happened to be a few years later. And I thought it was fun to balance out Katherine Heigl’s manic energy and type A personality. That was pretty cool. Plus, [director] Anne Fletcher is just a genius and everyone should be so lucky to be on set with Anne Fletcher. She's amazing.”
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