MORE Movie Facts You Probably Didn’t Know…
Do You Know Them?
Three years ago, I wrote a blog where I made a list of little-known film trivia. I enjoyed writing it and have wanted to do another one for a while now. However, I could never find facts I thought would be interesting enough.
I did some research and found nine more facts I think you might like.
JIM CARREY TRAINED WITH THE CIA TO PLAY THE GRINCH
After being cast as the titular character in Ron Howard’s 2000 film, Jim Carrey had to undergo a rigorous ordeal in applying full body makeup to play the role, which Carrey described as feeling like he was “being buried alive.”
After the first day, Carrey kicked a hole in the wall of his trailer and told the filmmakers that he couldn’t make the movie.
To keep Carrey in the project, producer Brian Grazer hired a guy who trains CIA operatives on how to endure torture to help Carrey play the role.
Carrey’s friend and other comedy great, Eddie Murphy, said, “I marvel at how much work he puts into it.”
MEL BROOKS INADVERTENTLY INSPIRED AEROSMITH
In 1974, while taking a break from recording, the band Aerosmith decided to see the Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein.
When Gene Wilder meets Marty Feldman at the train station, the two perform a gag involving a walking stick and this line...
The band loved the joke so much that they later wrote their hit song, Walk This Way.
Ironically, Mel Brooks hated the joke and didn’t want it in the movie. However, he relented after hearing the positive reception to it.
GEORGE HARRISON GOT LIFE OF BRIAN MADE
Despite the success of their last film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the comedy team couldn't fund their next movie, Life of Brian.
While the film would become very controversial after its release, being considered blasphemous, those same controversies kept every major film studio in England and America from making it.
When they all thought it was dead in the water, Beatles legend George Harrison, a friend to Python Eric Idle, put a mortgage on his house and gave them the $4 million required to make it.
When John Cleese asked him why, he told them he, “Wanted to see the film.”
As a thank you, Harrison was made an executive producer and given a cameo.
ALEC GUINNESS HATED STAR WARS
Despite earning an Academy Award Nomination, and a new generation of fans, Sir Alec Guinness was very unhappy with the success of Star Wars. He went on to say he regretted doing the movie and that he would “shrivel” whenever someone mentioned it to him.
Many years after the film, a young fan ran up to the actor on the street excited to tell him that he had seen the movie “over 100 times.” Obi-Dick then told the kid to promise that he would never watch Star Wars again, which caused him to run away and cry. While Guinness did admit what he said may have been harsh, he didn’t regret doing it.
I love the performance, but seriously, douche!
On the other hand, B-Movie horror film stars and best friends Sir Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing were delighted with the new legion of fans they made from their appearances in Star Wars.
Cushing was quoted as saying the only thing that upset him was dying in the first film because it meant he couldn’t return for any of the sequels.
CHRIS FARLEY WAS THE ORIGINAL SHREK
When DreamWorks Animation was first making Shrek, they cast Chris Farley, who at the time, was one of the biggest comedy stars around. He recorded almost all of his dialogue, only having five days left of work left, before he unexpectedly died on December 18th, 1997.
DreamWorks had initially asked his brother to record the small bit of dialogue left needed to complete the movie, but he refused.
Instead, the job went to Farley’s friend Mike Myers, fresh off his success in the Austin Powers movies. Myers agreed on the condition that the script be rewritten since he didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of his late friend.
In 2015, a small part of his recordings were released.
THE MOST INTENSE SCENE IN GOODFELLAS WAS IMPROVISED
Before becoming an actor, Pesci had several odd jobs, including a waiter. One day, he was waiting at the table of a mobster and made the mistake of saying he was funny. The gangster was angry at the young Pesci and scorned him for the “compliment.”
While making Goodfellas, Pesci told this story to Scorsese, who liked it so much that he decided to have Pesci and Ray Liotta improvise it together without telling the rest of the cast or crew.
EVERYONE THOUGHT HEATH LEDGER WOULD SUCK AS THE JOKER
Despite a critically acclaimed turn in Brokeback Mountain, when it was announced in 2006 that Heath Ledger had been cast as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, fans went ballistic.
Similar to the hate Michael Keaton received when he was cast as Batman, there were petitions from online forums trying desperately to get Ledger fired and recast.
People said he was too “pretty” and “soft” to play the character. Even after his tragic passing six months before the movie’s release, nobody had any faith.
Then, the movie came out…
It’s no secret now that his performance was incredible. Earning him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and hailed as one of the most iconic performances in film history.
So yeah, it looks like the internet was wrong again.
There you have it, a new batch of facts that hopefully you found as interesting as I did.