2025 marks a big milestone for The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie. The beloved adaptation of the 2001 young adult novel of the same name by Ann Brashares became a timeless classic thanks to the relatability of its source material as well as the strong performances turned in by its leads. Alexis Bledel, Amber Tamblyn, Blake Lively, and America Ferrera, the stars of the film, would all go on to have storied careers in their own rights, making The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants something of a launching pad for those who brought it to the screen.

Much credit is also due to director Ken Kwapis, who worked with The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants cast to hone lasting performances that honored the source material. Kwapis’ talents have also helped create memorable entries into the film and TV landscapes–his resume includes multiple episodes of The Office, Malcolm in the Middle, and The Larry Sanders Show. As a feature director, Kwapis has brought He’s Just Not That Into You, A Walk in the Woods, and Big Miracle to the screen, among others.

ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan talked with Ken Kwapis in celebration of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ 20th anniversary. Kwapis discussed the importance of finding the right actors to play The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ leads and the staying power of the movie. Plus, he teased his involvement in the Malcolm in the Middle revival and The Office spinoff, The Paper.

Ken Kwapis Reflects On The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants’ Staying Power

“There’s Always A New Generation Of Young Women Discovering It”

Ken Kwapis is just as surprised that it’s been two decades of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants as anyone. “You know what?” he said, “it does not feel like 20 years, because the film seems to just continue to rope in more of a fanbase over time. There's always a new generation of young women discovering it, so it feels very fresh.”

The director revealed he actually watched the film recently at a screening and Q&A, and shared that “watching it with an audience, I was reminded how relatable all four characters are, and frankly, how beautiful the film is. I'm not patting myself on the back. The production design and the cinematography really make for a wonderful big-screen film.” “It does feel very timeless,” he added, “and certainly the storylines are as resonant as ever.”

“The issues that the four characters deal with are ones that so many of us have to deal with at different points in our lives.”

And, of course, “All credit to Ann Brashares for creating such emotionally truthful stories for these four young women.”

Casting Was Key To The Movie’s Success

“There Was No Question In My Mind … Those Were The Four Actors”

The cast of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants have remained friends to this day, which makes it fascinating to hear Kwapis say “the challenge for me was that the four actors–Black, Alexis, Amber, and America–did not know each other before making this film.” Although the four only had a few scenes together in the movie, “the challenge was how to encourage the four actors to create a sense that they’ve been best friends since birth.”

Although a number of now-esteemed actors like Olivia Wilde Kaley Cuoco, and Misha Barton originally auditioned for the movie, Kwapis said “there was no question in my mind when I met America, Alexis, Amber, and Blake that those were the four actors for those roles,” despite the fact that “Blake came in without anything on her resume.” He continued, adding, “she’d never had an acting job before, and she was 16 when she auditioned for the role, but it was so clear to the room that she had this intuitive connection to that character. She was just perfect for it.”

And Lively’s job wasn’t easy, said Kwapis: “[It was her] first time out of the gate as an actor in a major emotional picture, [and she was] playing a character who's dealing with some pretty weighty issues–specifically trying to process the death of a parent by suicide. She had some tough stuff to pull off, and she did it so beautifully.”

Rather than anything the actors put into their performances, Kwapis said that his biggest surprise to this day is “how close they’ve remained.” “I only say it’s surprising,” he continued, “because it's rare in show business for things like that to happen. Usually, you work on a film and people have an intense relationship for a short amount of time, and they go their separate ways. But in this case, those four actually became a real-life sisterhood.”

The director believes the reason for that is how distinct the characters they played in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants were. “If they had been more similar to each other,” he shared, “there might not have been such a wonderful chemistry. But each of them is so distinct, and Ann created such unique characters that [elevated] the dynamic they created as a group … each of the four individual performances is wonderful, but together on the screen, there's a chemical thing going on that I don't want to take any credit for.”

"I felt excited just to turn on the camera and eavesdrop on this wonderful energy between the four of them.”

How The Pants Became The Movie’s “5th Character”

“I Definitely Wanted To Give The Pants Their Own Life”

The actual sisterhood of the traveling pants is made up of four young women, but the pants themselves were the connective tissue (denim?) between them. Or, in Kwapis’ words, “There are four of the Sisterhood, but there’s a fifth character in the story, and that’s the pants themselves. I definitely wanted to give the pants their own life and their own story arc.” The director accomplished this through montages “where we follow the pants from one country to another,” with help from composer Cliff Eidelman, who “created a musical theme to accompany the pants as well.”

“I think that it's very important to think of it as a five-hander instead of a four-hander. It's four girls and a pair of pants.”

The way the pants were shown on screen was also carefully determined by Kwapis. “The scene of each of the characters trying the pants on was very important to me,” he shared, adding, “I didn’t want it to feel hokey. I didn’t want it to feel eerie. I wanted the magic to have a very matter-of-fact quality. Blake takes the pants off, she hands them to America, and America just puts them on. There's no obvious trickery. There was a bit of sleight-of-hand involved, but I didn't want to do anything to signal that there was a magical event happening.

“I wanted it to be understated, almost deadpan.”

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants Took Young Women Seriously

“I Was Able To Relate To Each Of The Individual Stories”

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants may have been aimed at young women, but Kwapis revealed that his attraction to the script was its universal relatability. “When I first read the Sisterhood script,” he shared, “there weren't a lot of films for young women out there that really treated the characters as fully dimensional people. The films that were being made by studios for teenage girls were superficial and bubblegum-y, for lack of a better adjective.”

“Obviously, I wasn't a teenage girl, but I was able to relate to each of the individual stories. I felt like I'd been there and done that.”

For Kwapis, “it confirmed that, if I felt like I could walk in those characters' shoes, then the audience would connect with them as well. The bottom line whenever I read a script, whether it's about young female characters or not, is if I have a connection with the emotional issue that's at the core of the story. And if I do, then I feel pretty confident that it'll resonate with the audience as well.”

One plot thread that is evidence of the movie treating its young women as three-dimensional characters is Bridget’s attraction to her soccer coach, which Kwapis said is much deeper than that surface interpretation. “I feel like Bridget's story is about grief,” he said, adding, “People shouldn't assume it's a story about having a fling with a soccer coach. It's a story about grief and her inability to process her mother's death.”

“Bridget's father is emotionally checked out; he's not able to help her get through this. She needs an adult for guidance, and there is none, so I think what Bridget does is act out in a way that's unhealthy. But at the end of the day, the root cause of her behavior has to do with her inability to grieve properly.”

Ken Kwapis Reveals His Tricks For On-Set Success

From Not Saying “Action” To Creating A Certain Environment

Taking in Ken Kwapis’ work at large, it seems very much like the director knows how to get the best out of his collaborators. In sharing some of his tricks of the trade, he made the process sound very simple: “I make a point of trying to create an atmosphere on set where people feel safe, acknowledged, free to play, and respected.” On The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, he said, “I felt like one of the reasons that the four actors had such a good experience on the picture was that we did that.”

“We–not just me–because we, as a group, created a really healthy working environment for all the actors.”

Kwapis’ attention to making actors feel comfortable extends to his avoidance of a well-worn word. “I don’t use the word ‘action,’” he shared, “I haven’t used the word since the early ‘90s. I just like to say, ‘Go ahead.’ I feel like it’s a way for me to put the actors at ease, and it helps reinforce the loose atmosphere that I like on set. The idea of barking ‘action!’ doesn’t suit me at all. I’m not judging other directors, but I like to start the scene in a more casual way. I’ll just say, ‘Okay, let’s go ahead.’”

Kwapis Teases The Paper & The Malcolm In The Middle Revival

He Was Especially Excited To Reunite With Bryan Cranston

Kwapis has quite a slate of projects, two of which see the director returning to franchises he’s already contributed to. One is The Office spinoff The Paper, and the other is the revival of Malcolm in the Middle. On The Paper, Kwapis said the following: “I’m not going to tell you much, except that Greg Daniels directed the first episode of the new series, and I directed episode 2.”

“All I can say is that it was so fun to reconnect with Greg and revisit all of our original conceptual ideas for The Office and apply them to this new subject. I can't wait for you to see it.”

Elsewhere in the land nostalgic returns, Kwapis said, “I just finished directing the Malcolm in the MIddle revival. It’s a four-episode limited series featuring the entire original cast, and it was kind of strange and remarkable to reconnect with those actors and see them slip effortlessly back into those roles.”

“It was also fun for Bryan Cranston,” he continued, “who has done so much great drama over the past 20 years, to exercise his comedic muscles again. Whether it's comedy or drama, he couldn't be more gifted. He's one of our greatest actors. I directed 19 episodes of Malcolm in the Middle, and among many things, I got to direct Bryan doing some of the most insane physical comedy. He's just so adept at it.”

Kwapis didn’t give anything else away, but he did have this to say for anyone who hoped to see more antics from Cranston’s character Hal: “You're going to be happy.”

Kwapis Addresses The Rumored Traveling Pants Musical

“Nothing Would Make Me Happier Than To Direct A Wonderful, Character-Driven Musical”

In 2018, there was an announcement of an in-development The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants musical. Unfortunately, Kwapis was not involved. “I think somebody was trying to put together a Sisterhood musical,” he said, continuing, “I just don't know who. I don't have enough information to say any more, but I know that there was some effort towards that. Frankly, they would make a great musical.”

“I wish I knew more,” he said. “When I heard about it, I thought, ‘Oh, that's a wonderful idea.’ But musicals take so long to get off the ground that, for all I know, it's still in the works. I just don't know.”

Whether or not he works on The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants musical, Kwapis hopes to work in the medium: “Nothing would make me happier than to direct a wonderful, character-driven musical. I don't feel like I'm necessarily the person to direct a big spectacle, but I love musicals. The idea of singing characters makes me very happy.”

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is available to watch on digital platforms.