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Secretary

Year:

2002

Duration:

104 min

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

IMDB rate:

7.1

Director:

Steven Shainberg

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 18 wins & 20 nominations

Details

Country: USA

Release Date: 2002-11-14

Filming Locations: La Boca Restaurant - 5368 Wilshire, Los Angeles, California, USA

Earnings

Budget: $4,000,000

Opening Weekend: $182,306 (USA) (22 September 2002)

Gross: $4,046,737 (USA) (9 February 2003)

Cast

Actor

Character

Oz Perkins

Secretary

James Spader

Mr. Grey

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Lee Holloway

Jeremy Davies

Peter

Lesley Ann Warren

Joan Holloway

Stephen McHattie

Burt Holloway

Patrick Bauchau

Dr. Twardon

Jessica Tuck

Tricia O'Connor

Amy Locane

Lee's Sister

Mary Joy

Sylvia

Michael Mantell

Stewart

Lily Knight

Paralegal

Sabrina Grdevich

Allison

Lacey Kohl

Louisa

Julene Renee

Jessica

Lauren Cohn

First Secretary

Ezra Buzzington

Typing Teacher

Kyle Colerider-Krugh

Mr. Garvey

Steven Fierberg

First Date

Herbert Russell

Second Date (as Russell Harper)

David Wiater

Tomato Date

Shannon Convery

New Secretary

Alison Tatlock

TV Reporter

Emmy Collins

Zoo Protester (uncredited)

Diane McGee

Woman with the Purple Boots (uncredited)

Cali T. Rossen

Dancing Party Guest (uncredited)

Steven Shainberg

Richard Arevalos (sex therapist on tape) (voice) (uncredited)

Erin Cressida Wilson

Sitting In Mr. Grey's Waiting Room (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

Despite her character struggling to lift heavy objects and climb into a dumpster, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal had no trouble performing these tasks.

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Two posters were made for this film, one showing leads James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal and the other showing a model from behind bending over. Gyllenhaal admitted that the model was not her but it was someone who was dating her ex-boyfriend.

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Erin Cressida Wilson: In Mr. Grey's waiting room, where there are three people waiting to see him, one of them is played by the film's screenwriter.

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Goofs

When Tricia O'Connor arrives and calls Lee submissive, a boom mic is clearly reflected in the window behind Lee, following her while she moves from left to right.

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Lee is copying a one page document with the copier cover open. This might be okay if the page was positioned exactly right, but the page is in the middle of the glass instead of in a corner (which is usual) and after Grey tells her "good letter" she accidentally moves the page but continues copying. This would definitely result in askew copies with dark sections.

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Through most scenes in the office Lee wears plain stockings, especially when she is ordered to join Mr Grey in the library. When he asks her "What's going on with the sewing kit and the band aids?" her tights become white and patterned. On a journey home in the back of her Mom's car, the stockings are white and patterned after we had seen her wearing plain brown stockings.

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Quotes

E. Edward Grey: Look, we can't do this 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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E. Edward Grey: I'm so sorry for what happened between us. I realise what a... terrible mistake... I made with you. And I can... only hope... that you... understand. Be assured you can count on me for excellent references.

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E. Edward Grey: Do you really wanna be my secretary?

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Faq

What's up with the worm?

A worm is a dirty, inappropriate thing to find in a business letter (or any letter for that matter) and therefore deeply annoys Mr. Grey, who hates anything to be dirty or out of place. It's a "mistake", which is why he circles it in red. Lee intends it to get him upset so as to draw punishment, which of course it does. It has also been suggested that a worm could be symbolic of a limp male member and could therefore be construed as an attack on his manhood, but if so the end result would be the same (namely, provoking him).

Why does Lee stare into the camera at the end of the film?

As Shainberg says in the disc commentary "it's the last confrontation of the movie" meaning she's stating to the audience that this is who she is like it or not.

What songs are featured in the film?

For a complete music list with scene descriptions, go HERE.

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