Czech exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) fronts up to Jim (Jason Biggs), while Oz and Kevin (Chris Klein and Thomas Ian Nicholas) look on

All the cast responded to Herz’s portrait of school life. “This isn’t something that only high-schoolers are going to want to see, because it’s a quality funny movie,” says Alyson Hannigan who plays Michelle, the innocent-faced band member who springs a welcome surprise on Jim. “It brings people back to losing their virginity and being in high school. This is different to films like She’s All That because it will appeal to everyone. It’s a movie people can relate to because there’s always a situation you’ve been through or seen.” Hannigan says she was more like Jim than anyone else. “I sort of related to his character. You know: not knowing - except that there was no pie and no foreign exchange student.”

Of course, it wouldn’t be an authentic teen movie without an obnoxious jock character who gets his come-uppance at the end. In American Pie, it’s the superbly-named Stifler, played by Seann W Scott. “I just thought it was the funniest thing I’d ever read,” recalls the actor. “I made him from eight of the biggest jerks I knew back in high school, because I was a fairly nice guy. I just called eight guys back in Minnesota that I hadn’t talked to in four years, wrote down everything they said and it reminded me of how much I didn’t like them.”

Left, clockwise from top, Oz, Kevin, Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) and Jim.

“I love Stifler,” smiles Herz. “He’s the villain of the movie, but he’s not really the villain. He’s sort of the likeable jerk who throws good parties, so let’s be friends with him.”

Inevitably, the film has attracted a lot of attention for its uninhibited portrayal of teenage sexuality, but both the cast and the film-makers stand by it. “It’s not that raunchy,” says Tara Reid, who plays Vicky. “It’s that we’re actually, God forbid, talking about sex. We’re almost programmed to think that’s bad.” Shannon Elizabeth, who appears as Nadia, the foreign exchange student, agrees. “People are making such a big deal out of the whole sex thing. We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for sex.” In fact, ultimately the film has a rather innocent message. “It’s quite a wholesome movie because the characters are so naive,” points out Chris Weitz. “They’re not hip, urban teens and there’s no violence and no drugs. I think we’re more used to seeing sex when it’s a prostitute or a rape in a movie, and we’ve become oddly comfortable with the demonisation of sex, instead of looking at it as something that’s light-hearted or can be laughed at. One of the things we loved about the film was that, while it was amongst the raunchiest things we’d ever been exposed to, it was incredibly sweet. And one of the reasons we liked the title American Pie was that it reminded us of American Graffiti.”