Warning! This article contains SPOILERS for Anyone But You.
Anyone But You is based on the classic Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing, but some major changes were made to the source material. Much Ado About Nothing has been adapted for the screen multiple times, notably in a 31-year-old movie starring Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branaugh, Keanu Reeves, Emma Thompson, and more. While Anyone But You frequently references the Shakespeare play and takes its main enemies-to-lovers romance from the comedy, many details set it apart from Much Ado About Nothing.
Anyone But You and Much Ado About Nothing share a similar premise. Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell play Anyone But You’s main characters, Bea and Ben. When Bea’s sister and Ben’s best friend get engaged, Bea and Ben are forced to put their differences aside to ensure a smooth and happy wedding. When this proves easier said and done, their friends step in with a plan to make Bea and Ben believe the other is in love with them. Outside the plot summary, Anyone But You takes liberties with Shakespeare’s story to create a more original story.
One of the most obvious differences between Anyone But You and Much Ado About Nothing are the characters’ names. Though the names aren’t the same for the most part, the romantic comedy took inspiration from Shakespeare’s play. The names also make the counterparts of each character clear between the film and the play. Benedick becomes Ben, Beatrice becomes Bea (though her full name is Beatrice Messina), Don Pedro becomes Pete, and so on.
The name changes in Anyone But You are a nice way to reference Much Ado About Nothing while keeping the story fresh. With Much Ado About Nothing supposedly having been written between 1598 and 1599, the 2023 adaptation understandably made some changes to help the characters feel more modern. Benedick and Don Pedro may not have been unusual names in the 16th century, but they would feel out of place in a rom-com set in the 2020s.
Much Ado About Nothing has two main couples, Beatrice and Benedick, who became Bea and Ben in Anyone But You, and Claudio and Hero, who became Claudia and Halle. Claudio and Hero are the secondary love interests in Much Ado About Nothing, and Claudia and Halle take on the same roles in Anyone But You. However, while Halle is a woman like Hero, the male Claudio becomes the female Claudia, with Anyone But You genderbending the Shakespeare character.
Claudio is a passionate and impulsive young lord, while Claudia is Pete’s type-A younger sister and Ben’s best friend. Though Claudio and Claudia don’t have much in common, she is his clear counterpart in Anyone But You. Making Claudio’s character a woman and including a same-sex couple reflects today’s more progressive world and brings some added representation that was unsurprisingly missing from the original play. Additionally, Claudia and Halle getting married and having their happy ending in Anyone But You can be seen as rare for female same-sex couples whose stories often end in tragedy.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is set in the Italian city of Messina, which is located on the harbor in northeast Sicily. The play is set during the Aragonese period of Sicily that lasted from approximately 1282 to 1492. Anyone But You is set in the present day, which is an obvious change in setting, but it isn’t set in Italy either. Instead, Anyone But You was filmed in Sydney, Australia, where the story takes place many miles away from Messina.
The film opens in Boston, Massachusetts, where Bea, Ben, Claudia, and Halle live, but the setting quickly changes to Australia for Claudia and Halle’s wedding. Claudia and Pete’s parents moved to Australia and hosted the families and friends at their beach house ahead of the ceremony. Anyone But You takes advantage of its Australian setting with beautiful shots of the beaches and Sydney Harbour. The film still plays homage to Much Ado About Nothing by giving Bea and Halle the surname Messina after the Italian city.
Perhaps the biggest change Anyone But You makes to the original story from Much Ado About Nothing is the exclusion of a villain. In Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro has an illegitimate half-brother named Don John who serves as the story’s villain. In the play, Don John resents his brother and plans to ruin Claudio and Hero’s wedding and embarrass Don Pedro. His character is completely erased in Anyone But You, leaving the story without a main antagonist.
Though Anyone But You doesn’t have a counterpart for Don John, that doesn’t mean the story is without conflict. However, most of the conflict revolves around Bea and Ben’s characters rather than Claudia and Halle. Nobody in Anyone But You is actively trying to ruin Claudia and Halle’s wedding, though Ben and Bea come close to accidentally doing so with their antics. Anyone But You not having a villain allows the story to remain fun and lighthearted in ways Much Ado About Nothing isn’t at times.
Unlike Benedick and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Bea and Ben don’t start Anyone But You as enemies. In the film’s opening scene, Bea and Ben have what should be a meet-cute at a coffee shop. When Bea comes in to use the bathroom, the barista denies her access because she isn’t a paying customer. Ben, pretending to be her husband, then saves her from a long line and a potential accident. From there, they bond and go on a date together exploring Boston.
Yet, when Bea falls asleep in Ben’s arms that night, she slips out of his apartment without a word. Eventually, Bea realizes that she made a mistake and goes back to talk to him, only to overhear a conversation between Ben and Pete where he lies about not having feelings for her. This misunderstanding turns Bea and Ben from potential enemies to lovers, and it was created just for the film. Much Ado About Nothing suggests Benedick once led Beatrice on, but their backstory isn’t as developed as Bea and Ben’s in Anyone But You.
Another character that didn’t make the jump from stage to screen in Anyone But You is Ursula. In Much Ado About Nothing, Ursula is one of Hero’s personal attendants. With Anyone But You taking place in the 2020s, it wouldn’t make sense for Halle to have a personal attendant, and the only person she has in her wedding party is her sister Bea. Though Ursula is a small, comedic role in Much Ado About Nothing, her absence makes a difference in the rom-com.
As one of Hero’s attendants, Ursula is also in on the plan in Much Ado About Nothing to make Benedick and Beatrice believe the other is in love with them. Though Ursula doesn’t have a counterpart in Anyone But You, Pete takes on some of her characteristics as the film’s comedic relief. In Much Ado About Nothing, Don Pedro is portrayed as intelligent, something Pete isn’t known for. Ursula may be missing from the film, but Pete’s character makes up for it.
Not having a version of Don John or a villain in Anyone But You completely removes the major conflict between Claudio and Hero that existed in the play. Don John wasn’t concerned about Benedick and Beatrice, rather setting his sights on ruining Claudio and Hero’s wedding by making Claudio believe Hero had been with another man. Another difference between Anyone But You and Much Ado About Nothing is that unlike Claudio and Hero, Claudia and Halle are already a couple at the start of the film.
At the masquerade in Much Ado About Nothing, a masked Don Pedro wooed Hero for his friend Claudio, but Don John told Claudio that Don Pedro wanted her for himself. Though they eventually resolved this misunderstanding, Don John told Claudio that Hero wasn’t loyal. He took Claudio to Hero’s bedchamber where he claimed Hero was hooking up with Borachio. However, it was Hero’s maid Margaret who was with Borachio.
Don John’s lies led to Claudio calling off the wedding on the day of the ceremony, humiliating Hero’s father, Leonato, the governor of Messina. Things continue to spiral from here, with plans to fake Hero’s death and a duel between Benedick and Claudio. Fortunately, none of this happens in Anyone But You, though Claudia and Halle do stage a fight the morning of their wedding to force Bea and Ben to make up.
Margaret and Beau in Anyone But You are based on Margaret and Borachio from Much Ado About Nothing. Yet, their names are pretty much where the similarities between the characters start and end. In Much Ado About Nothing, Margaret is Hero’s other personal attendant along with Ursula. In Anyone But You, Margaret has no prior connection to Halle. In the rom-com, she is Pete and Claudia’s cousin, which is why she’s in the wedding party, as well as Ben’s ex.
Margaret’s love interest in Anyone But You is a surfer bro named Beau, but she insists their relationship is just casual. Their characters get together in Much Ado About Nothing as well, but only to make Claudio and Don Pedro believe Hero betrayed Claudio. Borachio is Don John’s right-hand man in the play, and with him being written out for Anyone But You, Beau feels more like an original character than an adapted one.