'Bring It On' Actors Jesse Bradford, And Eliza Dushku Were Arrested And Jailed In Mexico While Filming

"Bring It On" was definitely ranked as one of the top high school cheerleader movies since its release in August 2000. The movie basically laid the bedrock of most high school movies of recent times. It had a worldwide gross of $90 million to its $11 million budget.

The movie gained a lot of popularity in its time and quite a decent following. The genre was mainly comedy, and it was directed by Peyton Reed and written by Jessica Bendinger. "Bring It On" was the first of about five sequels of the franchise.

Many actors have funny stories of things that happened while filming, but the stories of the two lead characters of this high school cheerleading comedy definitely top the list. The two were apparently arrested in Mexico right before filming a scene and had to bail themselves out. Here are the full details behind how they got put in prison.

BuzzFeed reported that "Bring It On" director, Reed, talked about how his cast members were put in prison. The story is that the two main leads went partying with other cheerleaders from the movie and crossed the Mexican border.

The party ended in a jail cell, and the group had to bail themselves out. The arrest happened close to when the group was supposed to shoot a scene. Reed mentioned he didn't know what happened till after shooting the scene.

He said, "True story. It was before one of the outdoor scenes — I think it was the car wash scene — they had barely made it to set, and all that information was kept from me because, why fill my head with such nonsense? The actors made it to set and were shooting. It was only after the fact I learned there was such an amazing story."

Bradford also had something to say about the event. He told Entertainment Weekly, "I'm gonna blur the details of how and why, but needless to say, we got arrested. We had to go in front of a judge — I use that term loosely here — and explained what happened, and he let us go."

"They said that one of the producers, Max Wong, had to bail us out, but I don't think any of them knew what happened until well after the fact," he added.

"Bring It On" was released in 2000 and followed the lives of high school cheerleaders. The movie was an American teen cheerleading comedy film centered around a team's preparation and involvement in cheerleading competitions.

The lead character of the movie was called Torrance, a high school senior played by Kristen Dunst, who trained with her cheerleading squad in a bid to win another national title. After becoming the head of the Toros squad, Torrance held auditions for a new addition to their group.

Missy, played by Eliza Dushku, joined the group after the auditions. She informed them that the entire routine they were rehearsing was actually a plagiarized version of another squad. Torrance then decided to make an original routine before the competition and win against the Clovers.

The movie cast had a few famous faces like Dunst and her co-stars Clare Kramer, Jesse Bradford, and Dushku. Another popular face was the head of the leading rival, the Clovers team, Gabrielle Union.

The movie received mixed reviews; however, it evolved into a cult classic years later. The movie had around five sequels after its release. It was the inspiration behind "Work It" because it included dance in a high school storyline.

The first "Bring It On" movie was originally supposed to be a documentary, but it was fictional. The franchise's last film was "Bring It On: Worldwide Cheersmack," released in 2017.

One question fans of the franchise are asking is if there will be another movie, and there just might be. In an interview, Dunst admitted that she would like to reprise her role in the film if she was offered to be in it. Fans of the franchise are undoubtedly excited about the possibility of another film in the works.

Collider reported that a new "Bring It On" addition just finished its production, and the genre is noticeably much different. The story in this movie placed the cheer squad in an abandoned school where they become targets of an attacker. The title of the newest installment is "Bring It On: Cheer or Die," and although it doesn't have a release date yet, many believe it will be released in 2022.

No matter how talented, not all actors are the first pick of the director's crop. This applies to 'Bring It On' too. Although Bradford looked perfect for the role, he wasn't who Reed had in mind to play it initially.

Buzzfeed revealed that the director interviewed James Franco as Dunst's love interest in the movie, and his first impression of the actor was that he was "so great and an oddball." However, Franco had other commitments. He was recently cast in "Freaks and Geeks," and he couldn't be on both sets at a time.

Reed chose Bradford because he felt he had chemistry with Dunst and was "smart and soulful." Besides Franco, Jason Schwartzman also auditioned for the role and failed, according to Insider.

Besides the casting, Bring It On" had some other behind-the-scenes activity happening. It was also initially meant to be an MTV documentary. It paid $40,000 to secure the rights to "Cherry Pie," the Warrant song in the cheerleading audition scene.