Being John Malkovich - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

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

[wallace]

The play that Malkovich is reading into a tape recorder is Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". The line beginning "I'm as hungry as the winter . . . " is at the end of Act Two, where Trofimov is speaking to Anya, pontificating on his rejection of materialism.

[frederick]

The bar-scene where Malkovich explores his own consciousness ("Malkovich, Malkovich"), was shot in the nightclub located on the Queen Mary.

[norma]

Spike Jonze claimed in an interview that when he was shopping the screenplay around Hollywood, at least one unspecified producer asked if he could possibly rewrite the film as "Being Tom Cruise". John Malkovich himself suggested that Jonze cast Cruise.

[ruby]

Charlie Sheen was in rehab when he heard about fledgling filmmaker Spike Jonze's eagerness to cast him in this, his feature directorial debut. Sheen accepted the role without initially reading the script.

[nora]

John Malkovich was approached about this film several times and loved the script, but he and his production crew felt that another actor would fit the role better. Malkovich offered to help produce the film, and aid Spike Jonze in any way, but refused to star in it. Eventually after a couple of years Malkovich's will was worn down and he agreed to star in the film.

[albert]

The name of John Cusack's character is a combined reference to Edward Gordon Craig and Bruce Schwartz. Schwartz is an accomplished American puppeteer while Craig was a turn-of-the-century theater artist who suggested that actors should be viewed as no more important than marionettes.

[mathew]

The play that Malkovich is rehearsing on stage is William Shakespeare's "Richard III". The lines "Was ever a woman in this humour woo'd? / Was ever a woman in this humour won?" are I.ii.239-240, where Richard is gloating over his use of power, lies and crime to obtain the woman he desires, Lady Anne. This rehearsal scene is immediately followed by the first time that Craig has sex with Maxine via Malkovich.

[willard]

Maxine never actually tries out the experience of being John Malkovich. The first and only time she goes into the portal is when she runs through his subconscious, chased by Lotte.

[phyllis]

John Malkovich's real middle name is Gavin--in the movie his character's middle name is Horatio.

[edgar]

John Malkovich encouraged Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman to heighten the satire.

[ethel]

Future Oscar winner Octavia Spencer appears as the woman who first shows Craig how to stop the elevator at the 7 1/2 floor.

[nina]

When Craig enters the portal for the first time, he has a wooden plank. As he points out to Maxine, it disappears inside the portal. However, when he leaves Malkovich for the last time, the plank reappears in his hand, perhaps symbolizing that he will never be able to go back.

[eli]

Charlie Kaufman sent the screenplay to Francis Ford Coppola after he wrote it. Coppola liked it very much and showed it to his daughter's husband, Spike Jonze. Jonze liked the screenplay so much that he approached Kaufman about directing the movie.

[fred]

John Malkovich's name is said over 130 times.

[kyle]

In a radio interview writer Charlie Kaufman explained that while pitching John Malkovich's representatives the story, Kaufman was informed by them that, much to his surprise, Malkovich lived at the time in a Manhattan apartment numbered 7-1/2. Kaufman said that the representatives gave the impression of "feeling him out" and were worried he was a stalker.

[ella]

John Malkovich claimed that he approached the character of "John Malkovich" as he would any other fictional role, and that the only thing about his real life that was reflected in the film is his wardrobe.