After 20 years MIA, the D.E.B.S. (Discipline, Energy, Beauty, Strength) are back together again and teasing a potential (not-so-secret) mission.
Meagan Good and Sara Foster, who starred together in 2004’s D.E.B.S., reunited Saturday night with writer and director Angela Robinson to celebrate the sapphic cult classic’s 20th anniversary with a Cinespia screening at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, in partnership with LA Pride.
“This film, for me, was an opportunity to do something different,” said Good as they introduced the screening, which was sponsored by Amazon Studios and Wondery. “And then it became something where, now when people come up to me and they say, ‘Oh, I loved this movie’ or ‘this movie really inspired me’ or ‘made me feel seen,’ it wasn’t just an opportunity to do something different. It was an opportunity to be a part of something that’s important and fantastic.”
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Foster echoed her co-star’s sentiments. “I will say that in 20 years, a lot of good things have happened to me in my life,” she said. “And to this day, one of the best things is people coming up to me and saying, ‘D.E.B.S. made me feel comfortable being who I am. D.E.B.S. made me realize who I am, who I want to be.’
“And it’s happened consistently for 20 years. So, I’ve done a lot of really sh*tty movies and a lot of sh*tty TV shows, but this is a movie that made a difference, probably the only thing I ever did that made a difference, at least in the movie business,” added Foster.
Foster starred in the action comedy — based on Robinson’s 2003 short of the same name — as Amy Bradshaw, a gifted recruit at a top-secret women’s paramilitary academy. During a mission to take down the illusive super criminal Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster), Amy develops an attraction to the enemy and finds her loyalties tested.
Although the movie’s marketing watered down its LGBTQ themes and it ultimately grossed less than $100,000 at the box office, D.E.B.S. has gone on to cult status among its intended fanbase.
“We made this so long ago, and my goal, our goal collectively was, I just wanted to see a teen movie that I wish I had when I was a teenager,” recalled Robinson. “And we had such a blast making the movie, and we had a great premiere at Sundance. And then the movie came out and totally flopped.
“But here’s the thing, I was so bummed out because I was like, ‘It’s not gonna get to the audience that I wanted to see this movie.’ And then you guys went and found it. Then somebody would tell me ‘yeah, I rented it in the video store.’ And I was all mad at the time … that they weren’t advertising it as a gay movie. But then it became this kind of underground thing where people would tell me they rented it at the video store or passed it or watched it on TV or something like that. And then it’s grown into this today. So, I want to say thank you so much.”
Robinson also thanked her wife of 25 years, Alexandra Kondracke, “who told me not to take the script and stick it in the drawer like I was going to,” as well Sony Screen Gems’ Clint Culpepper and Stacy Kramer, “because I can’t believe anyone gave us money to make this, but you did, and it’s amazing.”
“But mostly, I want to thank all of you for coming and being here and supporting D.E.B.S. because a bunch of people have come up to us collectively, and they said, ‘D.E.B.S. changed our lives,'” added Robinson. “And that’s incredibly gratifying to see all these years later.”
Although Brewster was in New Zealand and unable to attend the reunion, she graced her friends and fans with a video message, in which she campaigned for a sequel.
“Happy 20th anniversary to D.E.B.S.,” said Brewster in the clip. “Angela, working with you was one of the best experiences of my career. It was so much fun, and I just keep begging you to make a sequel, another one in which I could be like anolder, wiser Lucy Diamond. Has she learned her lesson? I don’t know… Probably not. Have fun. I love you guys. I’m with you in spirit. And bug Angela about making a sequel, please.”
