Rachael Leigh Cook Honours Kay Hanley at Josie and the Pussycats 25th Anniversary Screening

Rachael Leigh Cook praised singer Kay Hanley for voicing the songs her character lip-syncs in Josie and the Pussycats, at a 25th anniversary screening held Saturday at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles.

The outdoor event was staged by Cinespia, the Los Angeles screening series that is itself marking its 25th year of projecting films among the headstones of the cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard. Gates opened at 6:15 pm; the film rolled at 8. Cinespia

Cook, who played the title role in the 2001 film, used the platform to single out Hanley's contribution. Hanley recorded the lead vocals for the fictional band's songs, her voice replacing Cook's on every musical number in the picture. Joining Cook and Hanley at the screening were the film's writer-director duo, Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont, according to Deadline.

For Hanley, the night carried personal weight. She told the crowd that the film "literally changed my life," and that she attended the screening with her 27-year-old daughter, who was a baby when the soundtrack was recorded. Deadline

The warmth of the reunion sits against a harder backdrop. In June 2026, Hanley spoke publicly about her struggle to obtain residuals and health insurance through SAG, the actors' union, alleging that the film's producers failed to submit her paperwork. She said she made less than $1,500 for her voicework on the film and is fighting for back pay. "Watch the movie," she told Vulture. "That's my voice coming out of Rachael Leigh Cook's mouth." Deadline first reported the dispute on June 18.

Residuals are payments that performers earn when a film or television show is re-used or re-released, and union health insurance eligibility is tied to those earnings. Hanley's case has drawn attention to the gap between a film's cultural afterlife and the compensation of the artists who helped make it.

Josie and the Pussycats opened in 2001 to modest box office, grossing $14.8 million on its original release. The film stars Cook as Josie, Rosario Dawson as Val, Tara Reid as Mel, with Alan Cumming and Parker Posey as the scheming Mega Records executives. It was written and directed by Kaplan and Elfont. Deadline

Hanley has been the lead singer and songwriter for the band Letters to Cleo since 1990. Her voice also appears on the soundtracks of The Craft (1996) and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), in which she made a musical cameo as herself.

The Cinespia screening closed the organisation's 2026 summer series, which began on May 23. The series is billed as the first and longest-running outdoor screening programme in Los Angeles. Cinespia