Rent - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Rent or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Rent

[nina]

Chris Columbus said that Idina Menzel sang "Over The Moon" at least 7 times while shooting.

[kyle]

Mark's mother is played by Randy Graff, wife of Rent's original musical director, Tim Weil.

[amber]

The word "to" is said/sung 55 times in "La Vie Boheme A & B"

[kim]

According to her report from the doctor, April's last name is Ericsson.

[clayton]

In "What You Own", when Mark and Roger are on the roof, you can briefly see the side of the building. If you look closely, "ANGEL" is spray-painted on the side of the building. This was purely coincidental.

[sara]

Though it is popularly known that Jonathan Larson based "Rent" after "La Bohéme", he also read Henri Murger's original novel "Scenes de la Vie Bohéme", on which "La Bohéme" was based. The original title reappears as the name of a song, "La Vie Boheme"

[dustin]

The phrase "I should tell you" is said/stated 27 times throughout the course of the movie.

[frances]

Taye Diggs (Benny) and Idina Menzel (Maureen) fell in love while performing as part of the original Broadway cast and were married for 10 years, before separating in 2013.

[norma]

Spike Lee was for a long time attached to direct. The song "Light My Candle" contains the line "I hear Spike Lee's shooting down the street;" this line remained unchanged in the movie's version of the song. Other rumored directors were Sam Mendes, Rob Marshall, and Baz Luhrmann.

[gabriel]

The opening of the musical "Rent" coincided with the 100th anniversary on Feb. 1 of the first performance of "La Boheme" in Turin, Italy, led by a young opera conductor named Arturo Toscanini.

[eli]

Some of the names that are tagged on the walls are the names of WB studio tour guides.

[steve]

Producer Robert De Niro tried to persuade his longtime friend Martin Scorsese to direct, but the legendary filmmaker was unhappy with the drafts of the screenplay he read and departed the project.

[frances]

A number of costumes in the film are based on those from the original stage production, including the striped sweater Mark wears during "La Vie Boheme", Collins' hat, Mimi's New Year's Eve outfit (which she actually wears during 'Out Tonight' in the stage production), Maureen's catsuit, and several of Angel's costumes, including the flowered skirt, the "Pussy Galore" costume and the Santa suit.

[nora]

The metal arch sculpture on Maureen's performance space during "Over the Moon" is an homage to the Broadway show. On the stage of the show, a similar metal sculpture is used throughout different scenes as a Christmas tree, a church steeple, and other various scenery pieces.

[clayton]

Tracie Thoms first told Jesse L. Martin of her casting in Rent in between filming of their scenes in Law & Order: Mammon (2005). In an interview, she stated, "I'm like, 'Hey Jesse, it looks like we're gonna be spending a lot of time together.' And he's like, 'We are?' I'm like, 'Yeah. I'm Joanne.' (imitates Jesse gasping) 'ACTION!'"

[charlie]

During "Today 4 U" Angel jumps up onto the table. Wilson Jermaine Heredia did two takes of that jump; the first take is in the movie, but on the second take he slammed his knees into the table.

[bernice]

The characters of Ali, Gordon, Pam, and Sue in the Life support meeting are named after writer Jonathan Larson's friends who died of AIDS. The real "Ali" was Alison Gertz, a young woman who contracted HIV in the early 1980s and became well-known later in the decade as an AIDS activist, and is the subject of Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story (1992), starring Molly Ringwald as her.

[elmer]

Collins is carrying the coat that Angel bought him at his funeral.