Natalie Portman, Thora Birch and other actresses read for the part of the youngest March sister, Amy, who grows up during the course of the film, and another future A-lister was close to signing on.

ARMSTRONG Our biggest decision was really should we have two Amys or one? If we were going to go with someone who could play both old and young Amy, the very best person we auditioned was Reese Witherspoon. She was also short, which helped.

DI NOVI It just was weird to have someone be a little girl and then a grown-up. It didn’t work.

ARMSTRONG Kirsten Dunst really blew [other Young Amy candidates] out of the water.

FRAZIER I still wanted Reese to play Older Amy because she and Kirsten were a superb match. But I was also really crazy about Samantha [Mathis], and I thought she did a beautiful job.

Hugh Grant could have played a pivotal role that ultimately went to Gabriel Byrne.

FRAZIER The only time I felt we’d gone off the rails was when somebody was talking about Hugh Grant to play Professor Bhaer [the older German tutor who courts Jo].

DI NOVI We all had a huge crush on Hugh. He sent in a self-tape, and he was actually quite good. But it was so important to us to be true to the book in terms of Professor’s Bhaer’s age and what he was like. Hugh was too stunningly beautiful. John Turturro lobbied very hard for that role, too.