‘Easy A’ Director Will Gluck Gave Us Another Iconic Natasha Bedingfield Moment in ‘Anyone But You’

Now that Anyone But You is streaming on Netflix, Gen Z viewers are about to learn what everyone over the age of 30 already knows: Natasha Bedingfield’s 2004 hit single “Unwritten” is a bonafide banger.

Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s R-rated romantic comedy began streaming on Netflix on Tuesday, and, in less than a day, the film shot to the top of Netflix’s Top 10 trending movie titles list. It’s a modern-day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, starring Sweeney and Powell as two hot people who hate each other, pretend to date, and then fall in love for real. Classic! The film was a hit in theaters (earning over $189 million worldwide) and clearly, it’s about to be a huge hit on Netflix, too. And for Anyone But You director Will Gluck—who also directed the Emma Stone-led 2010 comedy Easy A—it’s a true return to form. That includes a return to what I can only assume is Gluck’s favorite musical artist of all time, Natasha Bedingfield.

Bedingfield’s 2004 hit “Unwritten” plays a very important role in Anyone But You. It’s the “serenity song” for Powell’s character, aka the song he plays to soothe his debilitating fear of heights. When Powell and Sweeney get in a tight spot that requires a helicopter to airlift them to safety, Sweeney very sweetly (and very poorly) sings “Unwritten” to calm Powell’s nerves. Powell joins in, and then Gluck drops the beat by blasting the track as his two leads sing along, raising their arms in reverent worship of this truly tremendous tune.

Gluck then brings back the song for a joyous, hilarious sing-along credits sequence, featuring the entire cast singing “Unwritten” at various points during the shoot. He even includes a moment from the scene where Powell strips down naked courtesy of a stray tarantula, and has Sweeney sing those iconic lyrics directly into Powell’s butt.

As anyone who has seen the excellent Emma Stone-led high school comedy Easy A will know, this is not the first time Gluck has called upon the power of Natasha Bedingfield to enhance his films. Who could forget when Emma Stone received a singing greeting card that played Bedingfield’s equally catching 2006 single, “Pocketful of Sunshine?”

Her character declares it the “worst song ever,” then promptly spends her entire weekend idly humming the tune. By Sunday afternoon, she’s singing it into her shower head. By Sunday night, she’s blasting the song and screaming along. It is, arguably, the best scene in the movie.

Clearly, Gluck is a certified Bedingfield-head. He truly understands the allure of the English singer’s uplifting, ear-worm pop music.

Of course, unlike with Easy A, in the case of Anyone But You, it’s been a minute since Bedingfield has had a hit in the charts. Quite a few younger viewers are discovering Bedingfield for the first time, thanks to the movie—so much so that Bedingfield’s team edited the title of the official “Unwritten” music video to read: “Unwritten (Official Video) (as featured in Anyone But You).”

In an interview with People magazine, Bedingfield said of the song’s revival, “It’s kind of incredible the way that it’s lifting everyone up.”

She added that she didn’t realize the song was going to play such a big role in the film, saying, “It really feels like Anyone But You is about ‘Unwritten,’ like ‘Unwritten’ is almost a character in the movie,” she says. “My publisher and Will Gluck, the director, they were like, ‘Look, it’s a big moment in the movie.’ So, I believed them. But when I watched the movie, I was like, ‘Wow.'”

Anything that leads young people to this musical masterpiece is alright in my book. Release your inhibitions!