Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum were cast respectively in the lead roles of Viola Hastings and Duke Orsino; Tatum had been chosen at Bynes' insistence, as she felt that he would be received well by audiences. She told "Paper" in 2018 that "I totally fought for Channing get cast in that movie because he wasn't famous yet," she said. "He'd just done a Mountain Dew commercial and I was like, 'This guy's a star — every girl will love him!' But producers were like, 'He's so much older than all of you!' And I was like, 'It doesn't matter! Trust me!'"