Welcome back to Trivia Tidbits. For those of you out of the loop, this is a little compilation of 10 movie related facts that I always find interesting. So without further ado, this weeks are…



1: “Toy Story” and “Galaxy Quest” star Tim Allen was once a coke dealer. Tim was busted at an airport with reportedly over a pound of cocaine in his possession. He would have received the maximum sentence of life but volunteered to snitch on other dealers as compensation for a shorter sentence. He still spent two years in a federal prison.



2: In the Stephen King novella for “The Shawshank Redemption“, Morgan Freeman’s character Red is described as a white Irishman. The film has Red sarcastically quip, “Maybe it’s cause I’m Irish” as a nod to the change.



3: According to John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in the DVD Commentary of “Big Trouble In Little China“, the story was originally written as a western but Carpenter decided to set it during modern times. They even mention that instead of Jack Burton’s truck being stolen, it was originally his horse.



4: While playing Al Capone in “The Untouchables“, Robert De Niro insisted on wearing the same style of silk underwear that Capone wore, even though it would never be seen on camera. The producers, knowing DeNiro’s reputation as a Method actor, gave in. De Niro tracked down Capone’s original tailors and had them make him some identical clothing for the movie.



5: Robert Downey Jr. and Keanu Reeves tested for the role of Brian McCaffrey in “Backdraft” before it eventually went to William Baldwin.

Val Kilmer and Johnny Depp actually turned it down.



6: Author Lorenzo Carcaterra has claimed that his book on which the film “Sleepers” is based was a true story of his childhood. When the New York legal community went on record stating that no cases resembling the events of his book could be found in any court records, Carcaterra refused to discuss the discrepancy. His claims have been neither proven nor disproven.



7: When filming “Chinatown” Jack Nicholson was dating Anjelica Huston, the daughter of his screen nemesis John Huston. She visited the set on the day that her father’s character asked Nicolson’s Jake Gittes, “Did you sleep with my daughter?”.



8: In the casino scene in “Swingers“, sirens can be heard in the background. This was actually the police on their way to stop the filmmakers who were shooting without a permit.



9: [Spoiler]

When Alan Rickman was filming his death scene in “Die Hard“, he was dropped a second early to get his true reaction to falling from the Nakatomi Plaza.



10: Among Patrick Bateman’s neighbours in the novel of “American Psycho” is one Tom Cruise. Added to which, Christian Bale based elements of his performance as Bateman on Cruise after seeing an interview with the star. According to director Mary Harron, Bale said he saw “this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes”.

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…



(For earlier editions of Trivia Tidbits click here.)