The film premiered in theaters on April 23, 2004.
Thirty, flirty and thriving forever!
Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer and Mark Ruffalo are celebrating the 20th anniversary of 13 Going on 30 by thanking the fans of the film who have kept it relevant and beloved since its April 2004 release.
On Tuesday, the co-stars marked the special occasion by reuniting over Zoom to reminisce about the filming of the now iconic flick, how their lives have been invariably changed because of the movie and the reaction from fans of the film.
"I met a little baby named Jenna yesterday [named] after the movie," Garner, 52, says in the edited version of their meeting, posted to the actress' social media pages.
"A woman came up to me and told me her and her friends do 13 Going on 30 cosplay," added Ruffalo, 56.
The film follows 13-year-old Jenna Rink (Christa B. Allen) magically waking up to find herself a 30-year-old woman (Garner) living in New York City and working at her dream job with her middle school frenemy (Greer). Ruffalo stars as Matty, Jenna's childhood best friend and the person she goes to after waking up in her adult body, still with the mindset of a teenager.
To this day, the movie consistently finds itself on lists of the best rom-coms of all time, as well as rankings of nostalgic early 2000s films. In 2018, pop superstar Ariana Grande even paid homage to the movie in her "Thank U, Next" music video, where she dressed up as Garner's character in a 2000s-inspired project that also featured tributes to Bring It On and Mean Girls.
In response to two decades worth of love from the fans, Garner, Greer and Ruffalo shared some of their best interactions and memories, including just how big of an impact the movie continues to make to this day.
"There's two kinds of people in the world: There's Hulk people and there's 13 Going on 30 people," Ruffalo joked, referencing his role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. "And I get equal amounts," he says before correcting himself, "way more 13 Going on 30."
"Twenty years. We are three Boomers braving zoom—because we want to thank you. 👴👵👵 To every person who has loved this movie along with us: Thank You. We see you, we appreciate you and we love you back," Garner wrote, adding a reference to one of the film's iconic quotes, "Forever thirty, flirty and thriving!"
"Thanks for watching our movie and loving it," says Greer in the video as her cast members laugh.
At one point, Garner and Ruffalo even took a second to cheers with fake Razzles -- the candy of choice for their characters in the film. The cuteness overload was a little too much for Greer, who played the antagonist of the movie.
"You guys are going to make me throw up," the Halloween Kills actress said.
Toward the end of the video, the trio even pulled out their very best moves and recreated the scene where their characters dance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."
Another hilarious moment in the Zoom meeting occurred when Garner and Ruffalo reminded Greer that Brie Larson -- who would later go on to become an Academy Award winner and a co-star of Ruffalo in the MCU -- had a non-speaking role in the movie.
"Wait, Brie Larson was in our movie?" Greer says.
"Yeah, she was a Six Chick," Garner responds as Ruffalo laughs.
Also playing members of the Six Chicks -- the group of cool girls Garner's character wants to be a part of in middle school -- were Pretty Little Liars actress Ashley Benson and Chicago Fire's Brittany Curran.
In a tribute of her own, fellow cast member Christa B. Allen showed love to the fans by reimagining the multi-colored dress Garner wears during the film and penning a heartfelt message on the movie's impact on her own life.
"20 years ago today, '13 Going on 30' premiered in theatres and has been delighting audiences for 2 decades now. can you believe it?! oh how the time flies. thank you to everyone who took part in creating this sweet film, and everyone who has enjoyed it and Jenna Rink ever since," she wrote.
While the original dress from the film was knee-length, Allen's updated version sees it as a gown with a thigh-high slit and rhinestone embellishments. She showed off the fashionable item in an Instagram Reel set to another key song from the movie, Whitney Houston's "I Want To Dance With Somebody."
Allen also took part in a dance tribute alongside content creator Montana Tucker, recreating the "Thriller" dance scene while wearing matching dresses from the movie.
In January, ET spoke with Ruffalo, who shared that 13 Going on 30 was one of his first big studio films and that he was nervous.
"It was Jen Garner, who is just magical, and we had just a wonderful chemistry together," the Avengers star said of what sealed the deal for him on the film. He also shared that while all of the scenes have a special place in his heart, one sticks out to this day.
"Probably the Razzle scene out on the swings in the park," Ruffalo said. "Yeah, beautiful, sweet scene."
Garner and Ruffalo also reunited back in 2022 for The Adam Project with Ryan Reynolds. ET spoke with them at the time of the movie's release and asked about being back together onscreen as a couple once again.
"We did 13 Going on 30, went on and had lives, families, and kids and all kinds of other stuff, and came back and it's like, 'Wow. what a journey we've taken,' and here we are," Ruffalo said.
"It was so lovely," Garner shared. "It was really comforting to be together again, and I don't think either of us realized how much we needed it and how great we feel."
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