Gran Torino - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[chris]

Writers Nick Schenk and Dave Johannson knew some of the Hmongs near the steel mill where they worked. They wrote the script on pieces of paper during lunch breaks.

[chris]

"Kowalski" is the most popular surname in Poland. It means "Smith" in adjective form, the usual for Polish names. Kowalczyk, Marilyn Monroe's name in Some Like It Hot (1959), means "Smithson".

[linda]

According to Bee Vang (Thao Lor), the Hmong actors and actresses for this movie were isolated from the rest of the cast and crew. According to Vang, efforts by the Hmong actors and actresses to correct the portrayal of Hmong traditions were ignored. He has also refuted claims that the Hmong actors and actresses were encouraged to improvise. According to Vang, when he tried to improvise, Clint Eastwood told him to "stick to the script." Vang also stated that the cast and crew had attended a baseball game, but the Hmong actors and actresses were not invited. It was assumed that the Hmong actors and actresses were immigrants and did not know about baseball, but the majority of the Hmong actors and actresses were U.S. natives. Bee Vang later participated in a parody of this movie, "Thao Does Walt", in which he played an elderly Hmong man to a teenage Caucasian boy, highlighting perceived racial stereotyping in the original scene.

[darrell]

Theatrical movie debut of Doua Moua (Spider).

[bernice]

This movie was once falsely rumored to be the final installment in the Dirty Harry (1971) film franchise.

[steve]

Body Count: one (two, if you count Dorothy Kowalski).

[elmer]

The famous scene where Walt points a rifle at the Hmong gang and says "get off my lawn" might be a possible homage to Every Which Way but Loose (1978), in which Ma (Ruth Gordon) points a rifle at the Black Widow gang and says "get off my porch."

[sandra]

Clint Eastwood (Walt Kowalski) also played a Polish character in The Rookie (1990), who was named Nick Pulovski.

[tom]

Clint Eastwood encouraged the Hmong actors to ad-lib in Hmong.

[jesse]

Clint Eastwood's son, Scott Eastwood (credited under his birth name, Scott Reeves) appeared in this movie as Trey. His other son, Kyle Eastwood, provided this movie's music score.

[morris]

Clint Eastwood's character's name, Walt Kowalski, is the real name of legendary wrestler Walter "Killer" Kowalski.

[lonnie]

Clint Eastwood (Walt) used the same low gravely voice also used in his character Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Highway in Heartbreak Ridge (1986).

[beth]

Eastwood's character is a Korean War veteran, which he has played in other movies such as Heartbreak Ridge (1986) and Absolute Power (1997). In real-life, the actor's penchant for dropping ambiguous Korean War references is considered audacious by those who know him, because for his entire stint in the Army, he was a lifeguard at the Post Swimming Pool at Fort Ord, California. He never set foot in South Korea.

[tammy]

Sue Lor is assaulted by three youths. The assault was filmed at the intersection of Charlevoix and Drexel, near Grosse Point Park.