TUESDAY’S TRIVIA TIDBITS.
Welcome back to Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I will be posting weekly and info that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…
1: After Michael Madsen was found to be unavailable for the part, Daniel Day-Lewis tried to get the role of Vincent Vega in “Pulp Fiction“, one of the few times he actively pursued a part. However, by that point in the casting, Quentin Tarantino had John Travolta in mind.
2: Mark Ruffalo claims to be the only actor to date, to play both The Hulk and Bruce Banner in the same movie. Technically, both Eric Bana and Edward Norton have done motion capture work for their respective Hulks, but Ruffalo is the first actor to perform the Hulk live on set via performance capture.
3: When he did the Russian roulette scene in “The Deer Hunter“, Christopher Walken was remembering being sent to summer camp by his parents, which he hated. He felt betrayed, ostracized, alone – and felt the character was experiencing that at that point in the film.
4: Originally in “Rain Man“, Dustin Hoffman was to play Charlie Babbitt (the Tom Cruise character) and Bill Murray was to play the autistic savant Raymond (eventually Hoffman’s role). When Hoffman decided to switch roles, Murray dropped out – he didn’t want to play the straight role. The film also seen director’s Martin Brest, Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack attached at one point.
5: “Argo” is the title of the “movie” being filmed within the movie but it originates from Greek mythology. It was the ship Jason and the Argonauts sailed in to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
6: “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy were filmed simultaneously. The back-to-back shoot lasted a record-equaling 274 days, in 16 months – exactly the same time as taken for the principal photography of “Apocalypse Now“.
7: While filming “Awakenings” with Robin Williams and “Mad Dog and Glory” with Bill Murray, Robert DeNiro’s nose was apparently broken by both actors.
8: Matt Damon, along with Jake Gyllenhaal, was one of the studio’s first choices for the role of Jake Sully in “Avatar“, but director James Cameron chose the (back then) more unknown Sam Worthington in the lead role instead.
9: At one point in the movie “Ted“, Ted mentions 9/11. Mark Wahlberg and Seth MacFarlane both, apparently, narrowly missed being on the planes that hit the World Trade Center. Wahlberg was booked on American Airlines Flight 11 but decided to drive up to New York and fly to California later. McFarlane was scheduled on the same flight but arrived to gate ten minutes late and was unable to board. He was sitting in the airport when he saw that his plane had hit the North Tower of the World trade center.
10: In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, John Goodman stated that The Dude referring to “The Big Lebowski” as a “human paraquat” was one of the only improvised lines to make it into the final film. Virtually every other line, including every ‘man’ and ‘dude,’ was scripted – A ‘Paraquat’ is actually a herbicide. During the late 1970s, a controversial program sponsored by the US government sprayed paraquat on marijuana fields in Mexico.
So there you have it. 10 esoteric Tidbits to masticate on. Some you may know. Some you may not. If you have any thoughts, stick your donations in the comment box.
See you next Tuesday…
(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)
MARKED MOVIES 
October 16, 2012 at 11:21 am
I’m wondering how different Pulp Fiction would have been if Daniel Day-Lewis was in it.
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October 16, 2012 at 11:23 am
I hear you man. I thought Travolta was excellent but I’m a massive Day-Lewis fan. I wouldn’t have minded that at all. Thanks for chiming in buddy.
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October 16, 2012 at 11:24 am
Couldn’t even imagine Daniel Day talking about cheeseburgers and dancing to Chuck Berry.
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October 16, 2012 at 11:26 am
I know, it would definitely have been interesting wouldn’t it? Personally, I would loved to have seen that. I would also have enjoyed Madsen in that role too though.
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October 16, 2012 at 11:39 am
Great stuff Mark.
I can imagine Brando being the main reason for the Apocalypse delay. Currently reading a couple of biographies on him, and despite him coming across as a lunatic, it makes me want to go and watch all his films! 🙂
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October 16, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Cheers Bro. Aye, apparently Brando was a pain in the arse. He turned up without knowing the lines or having read the script but the weather conditions and the health of Sheen didn’t help either.
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October 16, 2012 at 12:18 pm
Great trivia, the one about Walken is interesting as he is really going through the same thing as his character.
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October 16, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Cheers Vinnie. According to him, this was his motivation. Personally, I thought his performance looked liked a lot more than that. But each to their own I suppose.
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October 16, 2012 at 12:51 pm
Avatar may be wildly popular, but I said it as wildly overrated and neither Damon or Gyllenhaal could have fixed that! Great stuff Mark!
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October 17, 2012 at 2:38 am
Cheers Keith. I enjoyed Avatar for what it was but I would tend to agree with you there. Damon or Gyllenhaal couldn’t have mended a broken, tired script.
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October 16, 2012 at 12:54 pm
Excellent post! I’d actually love to see Daniel Day-Lewis in Pulp Fiction. Granted, it’s hard to imagine the role without Travolta, but Day-Lewis is such a terrific actor … oh, the possibilities. And Walken was so powerful in his role in The Deer Hunter. Hearing the summer camp story is a little disappointing, somehow. But hey, it obviously worked! 🙂
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October 17, 2012 at 2:41 am
Cheers Stephanie. I’m with you on both accounts. Day-Lewis as Vincent would have been great to see. That sounds unfair to Travolta but I would loved to have seen Day-Lewis would have done with the role. As for Walken, I felt a little disappointed with that news also.
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October 16, 2012 at 1:09 pm
Daniel Day-Lewis could really have worked! I mean, Travolta is great in it, but i could easily imagine Day-Lewis in there too.
Is the Rainman poster your doing there? If so, good work! ha!
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October 17, 2012 at 2:43 am
Totally agree Chris. Day-Lewis could have worked there.
Unfortunately, I can’t lay claim to the Rain Man poster. I found it on the Internet. I could have done it as I’m not too bad with that kinda stuff on photoshop but I just don’t have the time. Cheers man.
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October 16, 2012 at 1:41 pm
I remember reading #9 a while ago, and it still shakes me to this day. No one knows what can happen.
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October 17, 2012 at 2:44 am
A pair of very lucky fellas methinks Alley. Very lucky.
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October 16, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Wahlberg and MacFarlane. While Wahlberg made a decision not to fly that day MacFarlane owes God a big one! He should devote himself to some sort of payback for that one. I can’t see anything in his work that says “thank you”. I’d be wondering, what did the Almighty have in mind?
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October 17, 2012 at 2:46 am
Absolutely Ray. Somebody is definitely watching over MacFarlane. How lucky can you get?
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October 16, 2012 at 7:51 pm
Murray and Hoffman in Rain Man could have been very good, but I wonder if it would have made it seem too comedic. Day-Lewis as Vega might have been interesting.
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October 17, 2012 at 2:47 am
I think your right Morgan, with Murray the films tone would definitely have changed. It would have been interesting but I’m glad they didn’t do it.
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October 16, 2012 at 8:59 pm
I’ve heard about DDL as Vincent Vega before and damn… can you imagine? Would’ve been a completely different film. So curious to see how that would’ve worked.
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October 17, 2012 at 2:49 am
Couldn’t agree more Alex. As one of my favourite actors, I would have been very keen to see Day-Lewis in that role. Kudos to Tarantino though, he seems to know who will fit a role well and Travolta does a great job.
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October 16, 2012 at 10:59 pm
#9 is definitely chilling…
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October 17, 2012 at 2:51 am
Absolutely Misty. Those two are a couple of lucky peckers.
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October 17, 2012 at 5:16 am
I didn’t know about #9. what a bit of trivia there. I’ve been wanting to watch Awakenings for ever.
I’m afraid neither Damon or Gyllenhaal would’ve helped me like Avatar more. It was a one time watch for me. that’s it.
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October 17, 2012 at 8:56 am
#9 is a strange one isn’t it?
Yeah, Awakenings is definitely worth a watch T. DeNiro, as always, is marvellous.
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October 17, 2012 at 7:59 am
Interesting and fun facts to read 🙂
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October 17, 2012 at 8:56 am
Cheers Nostra! Thanks for stopping by man.
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October 17, 2012 at 8:32 am
ANother great post Mark. I do love learning something new from these!!
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October 17, 2012 at 8:57 am
Thanks again Scott. Always a pleasure to entertain/educate. 😉
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October 17, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Ha, I love that Big Lebowski trivia
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October 17, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Yeah, I thought you’d be one in the Lebowski camp Andy. It’s a good one though isn’t it? I always wondered what a paraquat was and never thought to look it up before. Thanks as always mate.
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October 17, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Haha I looked it up one time to make sure I heard the line right
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October 17, 2012 at 7:15 pm
Haha Good man! So you knew then? For some reason, I just thought it was one of the Dude’s stoned ramblings. I should have known better though. Nothing in this film is there no reason.
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October 17, 2012 at 7:29 pm
Well, I didn’t know it was ad-libbed. I’ve heard that the Coens are brilliant at writing scripts that SOUND off the cuff but are totally scripted. When you think about that, especially in the context of Big Lebowski…Shit, man. It’s crazy that they would be able to physically write all that out and have it planned that way.
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October 17, 2012 at 7:40 pm
It only makes their writing all the more impressive for me. It’s amazing how detailed their dialogue is. For that being ad-libbed, it’s absolutely perfect and delivered at the perfect moment. Kudos to Bridges man.
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October 17, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Bridges for president
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October 17, 2012 at 8:18 pm
I’ll buy that for a dollar! 😉
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October 17, 2012 at 4:04 pm
Sorry I’m late to this Mark, super busy juggling work and covering TCFF. I heard about Daniel Day-Lewis pursuing the role in Pulp Fiction, that’s amazing that an actor like him still lost out to a role he wanted. Oh man, that’s crazy that DeNiro’s nose got broken by two actors, poor guy! Glad he’s ok now though. Nice set of trivia as always, my friend!
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October 17, 2012 at 4:45 pm
That’s cool Ruth. I understand you’re busy. It’s not always a requirement to comment you know? 🙂 I know you’ve always got my back, comment or no comment. I’m not even at a festival and I’m struggling to keep up myself.
Yeah, Day-Lewis eh? It’s probably one if the very few he’s lost out on. Most directors would snap him up.
And DeNiro’s nose… Two comedians as well and I think DeNiro could probably handle himself. Accidental of course but still ironic.
Cheers Ruth.
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October 17, 2012 at 9:04 pm
Some pretty crazy what-ifs in there. Couldn’t imagine Daniel Day-Lewis in Pulp Fiction, though I would have loved to see that happen. Ditto with Bill Murray in Rain Man. Curious how that would have turned out.
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October 17, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Cheers Eric. I can see Day-Lewis as Vincent Vega and I think it would have worked well. As for Murray, I can see that also but the whole tone of the film would change I think (see last weeks post on how Murray always changes the script to add his own spin). Still, they would both make very interesting changes.
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October 18, 2012 at 4:09 pm
Hi greetings from Hong Kong like the 9/11 trivia with Mark & Seth. I had read this somewhere. I love all those stories about people who narrowly missed the events that day. Noticed you put in a de Niro trivia was that for Tyson? Lol not sure why but both your sites seem to be banned in china couldn’t access them there.
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October 18, 2012 at 5:07 pm
Haha. Greetings from sunny Scotland Carly. Yes, the DeNiro one was for him (and me). I’m also a big fan. So what’s the score with our Asian brothers and sisters? Is our content too risqué for them?
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October 22, 2012 at 3:11 pm
I think they just ban anything where someone had an opinion lol. I’ll be at the airport heading home checking out next weeks instalment. 🙂
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October 22, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Cheers Carly! Tomorrow’s Tidbits are nearly upon us. 🙂
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October 19, 2012 at 6:14 am
Awesome tidbits, like always. 9 is so spooky. Love #10 🙂
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October 19, 2012 at 9:08 am
Glad to hear you’re still enjoying them buddy. #10 was a real beauty for me.
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October 23, 2012 at 12:31 pm
I love that walken felt being held hostage by VC troops and forced to risk blowing your head off comparable to a trip to summer camp. Good readings Mark
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October 23, 2012 at 12:35 pm
Cheers Henry. This is last weeks posts incase you’ve got them mixed up. New ones went up today (23/10)
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November 22, 2012 at 6:50 pm
[…] official picture from the Evil Dead remake. Every Tuesday, Marked Movies does a featured called Tuesday’s Trivia Tidbits, where a list of 10 not-so-known facts about movies crawl inside your brain. I can honestly say I […]
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January 27, 2014 at 5:09 pm
Number 1 is true? it can’t be ha
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January 28, 2014 at 10:06 am
As much as I liked Travolta in that role, I can really see Day-Lewis fitting in perfectly there. Added to which, he’s one of my favourite actors. Can’t go wrong with that man.
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January 28, 2014 at 10:17 am
True, but I was thinking more about what it did to Travolta. I do prefer him in dramatic roles though. There will be blood is a masterclass in acting.
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