Anyone But You: 12 Rom-Com Easter Eggs & Shakespeare References

April 23, 2024, 4:50 p.m.

Movies

Anyone But You: 12 Rom-Com Easter Eggs & Shakespeare References

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Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Anyone But You.

Summary Sydney Sweeney & Glen Powell star in hit rom-com Anyone But You, a modern take on Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

Anyone But You's success lies in the chemistry between the leads, a humorous script, and nostalgic Shakespeare and rom-com references.

Characters in Anyone But You mirror their Much Ado About Nothing counterparts, with hidden Shakespeare quotes adding depth.

The 2023 hit romantic comedy Anyone But You was based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and featured multiple references to the play and other famous rom-coms. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell led the Anyone But You cast, with the pairing playing modernized versions of the romantic leads in Much Ado About Nothing. The Shakespeare play is an early example of the enemies-to-lovers trope, which is at the center of Anyone But You’s story.

Both Anyone But You and Much Ado About Nothing revolve around two different romantic pairings, one who start off hating each other and another who is set to get married Anyone But You isn’t the first rom-com based on Much Ado About Nothing, but it is the most successful of all Shakespeare adaptations. Anyone But You broke several box office records thanks to the chemistry between the leads, the humorous script, and the many references and Easter eggs that added a nostalgic element to the rom-com.

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12 Anyone But You’s Characters' Names

Their Names Are Based On Much Ado About Nothing’s Characters

Anyone But You Character Name Much Ado About Nothing Character Name Bea Beatrice Ben Benedick Claudia Claudio Halle Hero Pete Don Pedro Leo Leonato Margaret Margaret Beau Borachio

The characters in Anyone But You are inspired by those from Much Ado About Nothing in both the roles they play in the story and by their names. Anyone But You stars Sweeney as Bea (short for Beatrice), the counterpart to Much Ado About Nothing's Beatrice. Her last name is also Messina after the Italian town where the play is set. Bea recently broke off her engagement to her long-time boyfriend while Beatrice was a known spinster. Powell plays Ben, a serial womanizer, based on Shakespeare’s Benedict, who doesn’t believe in marriage and enjoys a bachelor lifestyle..

The other romantic pairing in Much Ado About Nothing, Claudio and Hero, gets gender-bent in Anyone But You, becoming Claudia, Ben’s best friend, and Halle, Bea’s sister. Don Pedro, Ben and Claudio’s friend, inspired Pete, Claudia’s brother. Leonato, Hero’s father, is renamed Leo. Margaret, Ben’s ex-girlfriend, is the only character whose name is the same as her Shakespeare counterpart, with her lover, Beau, being named after Borachio.

11 The Spray-Painted Wall

Anyone But You Quotes Romeo & Juliet

Bea and Ben first met in Anyone But You at a coffee shop when Ben pretended to be Bea’s wife so she could be considered a paying customer and use the bathroom. They immediately hit it off and their chance interaction turned into Bea staying the night at Ben’s place. Though nothing more than cuddling happened between them, it was a special night. Unfortunately, Bea ruined it by leaving in the morning without talking to Ben.

When she left his apartment, Bea passed a wall that had the quote “Here’s much to do with hate, but more to do with love” spray-painted onto it. Unlike other quotes in the film that came from Much Ado About Nothing, this one is from the first scene of Romeo and Juliet. The quote itself foreshadows the enemies-to-lovers plotline and is a clever way of incorporating more Shakespeare into Anyone But You.

10 The Olive Penderghast Sign

Anyone But You References Another Will Gluck Movie

Anyone But You was co-written and directed by Will Gluck, an experienced rom-com director. Like Anyone But You, his 2010 rom-com Easy A was based on another famous piece of literature, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The film adaptation starred Emma Stone as 17-year-old Olive Penderghast, who was inspired by the book's main character Hester Pryne as she read the book in her English class.

In Anyone But You, Gluck makes a small but lovely nod to his 2010 film through a sign held at the airport when the main characters arrive in Australia for Claudia and Halle's wedding. In the background of the scene, viewers can see someone holding up a sign for Olive Penderghast, Easy A’s main character. The gesture is not just a nice homage to Gluck’s past work, but a reminder of his success in the genre.

9 The Writing On The Beach

The Quote Refers To The Characters’ Plan

In Much Ado About Nothing, the supporting characters devise a plan to make Beatrice and Benedick believe the other is in love with them despite their constant bickering. To do this, they arrange for the characters to overhear them talking about how much the other loves them. Through this eavesdropping, the main characters realize they truly love each other. In Anyone But You, worried that their fighting would somehow ruin their wedding, Claudia, Halle, Pete, and Roger, Claudia and Pete’s stepdad, use the same plan.

After the characters in Anyone But You agree on the plan, there’s a shot of writing in the sand. The quote from Much Ado About Nothing reads, “Bait the hook well; this fish will bite.” In the play, Claudio says this to Leonato to encourage his made-up story about Beatrice being in love with Benedick. Anyone But You uses the shots of Shakespeare quotes to introduce new phases in the story, and the writing on the beach is another example of this.

8 “Abbondanza”

Much Ado About Nothing Was Set In Italy

Anyone But You both takes place in and was filmed in Australia. The rom-com features many beautiful shots of the Australian beaches and plays upon many Australian stereotypes, such as the surfer bro character and a scene with a giant spider and a koala. However, Much Ado About Nothing takes place in Messina, Italy, a setting that perhaps couldn’t be more different from that of Anyone But You.

Despite the different backdrops to the story, Anyone But You still manages to make a reference to the Shakespeare play’s location. During a toast, Leo says “Abbondanza, as we say in our country.” The word abbondanza is Italian and translates to great abundance in English. With Leo living in Australia and being from America, this line may seem confusing and out of place. However, those who know Much Ado About Nothing know he’s referring to the play.

7 “I Just Made It Up”

The Running Joke References Shakespeare's Quotes

The line “I just made it up” is said twice in Anyone But You, first by Pete and then by his sister Claudia. However, the characters didn’t just make up what they said, as they are direct quotes from Shakespeare. The Bard is one of the most quoted writers in history and Anything But You uses many of his great lines in multiple ways. This includes having the characters say the lines themselves.

In one scene, Pete, who is often used for comedic relief, surprises Roger and viewers when he profoundly tells him that “some cupids kill with arrows and some with traps.” When Roger tells Pete it’s a really good quote, he claims he just made it up when in actuality it’s from Much Ado About Nothing. Later on, in her wedding vows, Halle tells Claudia, “I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.” While she takes the credit, it’s also from Much Ado About Nothing.

6 The Masquerade

Anyone But You Modernizes The Ball

Later in Anyone But You, another Shakespeare quote in the background was used as a foreshadowing device. Claudia and Halle’s rehearsal dinner was held on a cruise ship, and at that point in the film, Ben and Bea had agreed to fake date. They wanted to make everyone think their plan had worked, make Margaret jealous, and stop Bea’s parents from trying to get her and her ex-fiancé Jonathan back together.

While boarding the ship, Ben and Bea walked past a sign that said, “Assume thy part in some disguise.” In Much Ado About Nothing, this quote comes right before a masquerade ball. Bea further references this by telling Ben, “Who knows what could happen under the cover of a masquerade?” In Anyone But You, the rehearsal dinner takes the place of the masquerade, but the quotes have even deeper meanings. With Ben and Bea pretending to date, they are putting on masks for everyone around them.

5 Bea & Ben’s Titanic Pose

Anyone But You References One Of The Most Iconic Romance Scenes

Titanic is considered a masterpiece to this day and includes one of the most iconic romance scenes in history. Jack and Rose standing on the bow of the ship in Titanic is one of the most recreated scenes amongst film fans, and Bea and Ben tried it in Anyone But You. In a movie that pays tribute to multiple rom-coms, the Titanic recreation scene felt almost inevitable from the moment they boarded the ship.

Bea and Ben recreated the pose to try and get everyone to believe they were together. It worked, as they cooed and awed over the fake couple. Unfortunately, the Titanic-inspired scene didn’t end well. What could have been a lovely moment turned into a disaster when Bea fell into Sydney Harbour, and Ben, who wasn’t a strong swimmer, jumped in after her.

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4 The Natasha Bedingfield Song

Will Gluck Famously Used Another Natasha Bedingfield Song In Easy A

Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 smash hit “Unwritten” plays a major role in Anyone But You. Early in the film, Bea discovers “Unwritten” is Ben’s “serenity song,” or the song he uses to calm himself down. When a helicopter came to rescue them after the Titanic incident, he was terrified of hanging from the rope to get them into it. To help calm him down, Bea sang “Unwritten” to him until they started singing to him.

In 2007, Bedingfield had another hit with “Pocketful of Sunshine.” The song experienced a resurgence in 2010 when it was featured in one of Easy A’s funniest and most memorable scenes. When Olive received a birthday card that played the song, she was initially annoyed by it but ended up singing it throughout her weekend, getting it stuck in viewers’ heads as well.

3 The Book By The Pool

The Book’s Title Is Another Much Ado About Nothing Quote

Their experience at the rehearsal dinner helped Bea and Ben bond, as it showed they truly cared about each other. Ben was willing to jump into the ocean despite his fears to help Bea while Bea remembered Ben’s serenity song and sang to him when he needed it most. This led to a turning point in their relationship in Anyone But You, with Bea and Ben hooking up for the first time.

Unfortunately, more miscommunication between them led to Ben sneaking out before Bea woke up. The next morning, as Bea sat on a float in the pool, the camera flashed to a book on a table titled “Men Were Deceivers Ever.” The book title was taken directly from a line in Much Ado About Nothing. The title was an interesting choice, as Ben wasn’t intending to deceive Bea in that moment.

2 Anyone But You’s End Credits

The End Credits Are An Homage To Something About Mary

The Anyone But You end credits is one of the most fun references to another rom-com. The end credits scenes feature the cast singing “Unwritten” at different points of filming. If the helicopter scene didn’t get the song stuck in your head, the end credits scene certainly will. It’s the perfect high point to end on, and it took inspiration from 1998’s Something About Mary.

While There's Something About Mary isn’t the only film to follow this end-credits format, it’s one of the most famous. The film’s closing credits shows the cast members, including Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz, singing “Build Me Up Buttercup” by The Foundations. Today, with the downfall of physical copies of films, it’s somewhat rare to get an end credits scene like the one in There's Something About Mary, making what Anyone But You did even sweeter.

1 The Sign At The End Of Anyone But You

Anyone But You Ends With Its Most Direct Reference

For anyone who may have watched the entirety of Anyone But You without realizing its Shakespeare roots, the end of the film makes sure viewers leave the movie aware of this fact. The end credits scene doesn’t just show the actors throughout filming, but it offers a sort of epilogue to Ben and Bea’s love story. At the end of the movie, Ben and Bea are dancing in a stadium with the jumbotron reading “Much Ado About Nothing.”

The success of the film opens up the possibility for Anyone But You 2 to further explore Bea and Ben’s relationship. Both Sweeney and Powell have been outspoken on wanting to work together again, whether on a sequel or an entirely different film. For now, Anyone But You is streaming on Netflix for viewers to catch the many Easter eggs and references.

Where To Watch Anyone But You