Tropic
Thunder
Trivia: The Story Behind the Story
(Total Trivia Entries: 75 )
Did you know Tom Cruise was originally set to play Rick Peck? Keep readingTropic Thunder Trivia to find out more.
Directed by: Ben Stiller
Written by:
Ben Stiller (screenplay & story)
Justin Theroux (screenplay & story)
Etan Cohen (screenplay)
Starring:
Robert Downey Jr. - Kirk Lazarus
Jack Black - Jeff Portnoy
Jay Baruchel - Kevin Sandusky
Brandon T. Jackson - Alpa Chino
Ben Stiller - Tugg Speedman
Steve Coogan - Damien Cockburn
Danny McBride - Cody
Nick Nolte - Four Leaf Tayback
Matthew McConaughey - Rick Peck
Tom Cruise - Les Grossman
Bill Hader - Rob Slolom-Studio Executive
Brandon Soo Hoo - Tran
Casting:
Ben Stiller had originally planned Keanu Reeves to play Speedman with Stiller playing Rick Peck.According to Ben Stiller, Tugg Speedman is partially based on a young Sylvester Stallone.
Co-writer Ethan Cohen created the role of Kirk Lazarus as a way of lampooning the great lengths that some method actors go to depict a role.
Apparently Robert Downey Jr. was approached by Ben Stiller about the part of Kirk Lazarus while on vacation in Hawaii.
Robert Downey Jr. was very reluctant to take the role of Kirk Lazarus because he felt wearing the make-up to look African-American was offensive. But Downey later accepted the role because he liked the script and wanted to work with Ben Stiller and Jack Black.
Downey said on CBS' The Early Show' that his first reaction was, "This is the stupidest idea I've ever heard!" and that Stiller responded, "Yeah I know—isn't it great?" In another interview, Downey said that he accepted the part but, having no idea where or even how to start building the character of Osiris, eventually settled on a jive-esque speech pattern and a gruff, ragged bass voice; he then auditioned Lazarus' voice over the phone to Stiller, who approved the characterization immediately.
Downey revealed that Kirk Lazarus is based on a combination of Russell Crowe, Daniel Day-Lewis and Colin Farrell.
The character of Kirk Lazarus was originally written as Irish. It was changed to Australian, when Robert Downey Jr. stated it would be easier for him to improvise in an Australian accent, something he'd previously done with his character, Wayne Gale, in Natural Born Killers (1994) where he played a similar outlandish Australian character.
Downey acknowledged the potential controversy over his role: "At the end of the day, it's always about how well you commit to the character. If I didn't feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I'm just C. Thomas Howell [in Soul Man (1986)], I would've stayed home."
Downey is a method actor and usually stays in character between takes and even off the film set. Downey stayed in character as Sgt. Osiris (and, by extension, Lazarus) even while cameras weren't rolling. This practice was also written into the script for his character Kirk Lazarus to perform.
Brandon T. Jackson, who portrays Alpa Chino in Tropic Thunder, stated: "When I first read the script, I was like: What? Black face? But when I saw him act he, like, became a black man. It was just good acting. It was weird on the set because he would keep going with the character. He's a method actor."
Ben Stiller commented on Downey's portrayal of a white actor playing a black man: "When people see the movie, in the context of the film, he's playing a method actor who’s gone to great lengths to play an African American. The movie is skewering actors and how they take themselves so seriously."
Stiller previewed Tropic Thunder before several African American journalists and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, who reacted positively to the Robert Downey Jr.'s character.
Downey required between one and a half to two hours of make-up application to portray the black character. According to Downey, "One makeup artist would start on one side of my face and a second makeup artist would start on the other side, and then they'd meet in the middle."
In Tropic Thunder, Kirk Lazarus says the line "I don't drop character 'til I've done the DVD commentary." When recording the audio commentary for the unrated DVD and Blu-ray
, Robert
Downey Jr. actually spends the entire
commentary in the character that appears on the screen as the movie
progresses. Jeff "Fats" Portnoy was written with Jack Black in mind and is partially based on Chris Farley.
According to Ben Stiller, in an interview with Playboy, Jack Black filmed most of Tropic Thunder with bruised ribs.
Apparently Mos Def was originally offered the role of Alpa Chino, but he turned it down.
Tom Cruise was initially set to cameo as Stiller's character, Tugg Speedman's agent, Rick Peck. Instead, Cruise suggested adding a studio head character, and the idea was incorporated into the script. Stiller and Cruise worked together to create the new character, Les Grossman, as a middle-aged businessman.
Ben Stiller has cited that nearly all aspects of the Les Grossman character were developed by Tom Cruise, including the dancing and the look of the makeup. Stiller said that in addition to the more obvious makeup effects applied to Cruise's face and head, and the extra hair on his chest and arms, Cruise also decided to play the character wearing over sized prosthetic hands.
Many have speculated that Tom Cruise based his performance as a vulgar movie mogul on Sumner Redstone, with whom Cruise had a public falling out after Redstone had Paramount's terminate their development deal with Cruise. While this may or may not be true, his physical appearance is more than likely based on Tropic Thunder producer Stuart Cornfeld.
Ben Stiller intended to keep Cruise's role a secret until the film's release. In addition, Paramount Pictures refused to release promotional pictures of Cruise's character to the media.
In
November 2007, images of Tom Cruise wearing a bald headpiece and a
fatsuit appeared on Inside Edition, as well as on the Internet.
Cruise's attorneys threatened a lawsuit if photos showing Cruise in
costume were published. They approached various sites that were hosting
the image and quickly had it removed. A representative for Cruise
stated: "Mr. Cruise's appearance was supposed to be a surprise for his
fans worldwide. Paparazzi have ruined what should have been a fun
discovery for moviegoers. "The photography agency INF, who first
debuted the image, responded with a statement: "While these pictures
were taken without breaking any criminal or civil laws, we've
decided to pull them from circulation effective immediately."After Cruise vacated the role of Rick Peck, Owen Wilson was cast to play the part. Following his attempted suicide in August 2007, Wilson dropped out of playing in Tropic Thunder and Stiller gave the role to Matthew McConaughey.
Tom Cruise co-stars as a vulgar movie producer, Les Grossman, in this movie. Ben Stiller played Cruise in a sketch on Saturday Night Live in which Cruise played "Celebrity Jeopardy" and also played Cruise's idiotic stunt double "Tom Croose" in a sketch at the 2000 MTV movie awards.
While filming, Jay Baruchel, who plays Kevin Sandusky, and Brandon T. Jackson, who plays Alpa Chino, had to be trained on how to use a gun. Jack Black used an M-60, also known as "The Pig." According to his co-stars, he seemed very experienced, despite never having used a gun before.
The actors and actresses that make cameo appearances in Tropic Thunder include Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lance Bass, Jon Voight and Jason Bateman.
Serving as a last-minute replacement, Tobey Maguire was only available to be on set for two hours to film his scenes in Satan's Alley. Downey said he was amazed Maguire would agree to appear in Tropic Thunder and felt like they were creating a karmic pay-off for their scenes together in the 2000 film Wonder Boys, where Downey's gay character has a one-night-stand with Maguire's character.
Christine Taylor, Ben Stiller's wife appears as Simple Jack's mother in the 'Simple Jack' trailer. She also appears at the awards ceremony sitting a few chairs in from the aisle, seen for an instant as the camera follows Tugg down the aisle.
Co-writer Justin Theroux, makes a cameo appearance as the gunner on one of the Hueys in the beginning of the film, and the Zoolander DJ at the 'One Week Down' party in the director's cut version of this movie.
The poster for "The Fatties" behind Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) in the trailer features the names of a few of the film's actual crew members: costume designer Marlene Stewart, editor Greg Hayden, director of photography John Toll, and screenwriter Justin Theroux. In addition, the poster contains the DreamWorks Pictures logo, the Dolby Stereo logo, and a fictional composite of several MPAA ratings (reading "PG - Parental Guidance - under 11 requires accompanying parent or guardian").
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Screenplay & Production:
Ben Stiller first came up with the idea for Tropic Thunder while working on Empire of the Sun (1987), in which he played a small part.In one of the special features on the Tropic Thunder director's cut DVD, Ben Stiller said he has been developing ideas for this movie for about 8-10 years. Both Stiller and script co-writer, Justin Theroux have revealed that the initial script concept was that the movie was going to be about actors going to a "fake boot camp" for a couple of weeks and coming back with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Stiller has said in interviews that when he started out in Hollywood, he had a lot of colleagues going into war movies at the time, such as Platoon (1986) and Hamburger Hill (1987), and they would attend a "fake boot camp" in order to prepare for their roles and after taking part in these fake boot camps they considered themselves "self-important" and go on about the intense "boot camp" preparation and simulation of war these projects involved and how it made them feel like real soldiers. Stiller found this ridiculous because he thought that being an actor in a war film was nothing like being a real soldier in a real war. This was an early inspiration on what would become "Tropic Thunder".
Tropic Thunder's final script was developed to satirize Vietnam War films such as Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Hamburger Hill (1987), and The Deer Hunter(1978).
Ben Stiller reaction to the film being called a spoof; "... I feel the tone of the movie is its own thing. I think there are elements of satire, but I don't think it should be categorized just as that. There are elements of parody in it, but obviously I don't think it's just that. I feel like hopefully it's its own thing, which has a lot of familiar stuff that we are playing off of."
Co-writer JustinTheroux, has cited that the Tropic Thunder script was easier to write as viewers have an increased awareness of the inner workings of Hollywood due to celebrity websites and Hollywood news sources.
Dialogue for unscripted portions of the storyboard was developed on set by the actors or was improvised.
The title of the movie is a play on "Tropic Lightning", the nickname of the 25th Infantry Division which has seen action in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Southwest Asia and Iraq (among others). The Division is notable for being the subject of The Thin Red Line (1998) (based on James Jones's novel) and Platoon (1986). Famous members include Oliver Stone (who wrote and directed "Platoon"), rapper Ice-T and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin's eldest son.
Although Southern California and Mexico were considered for the main unit filming, the Hawaiian island of Kauai (where Stiller has a home) was selected for the majority of the shooting. Kauai was chosen over Mexico because a tax credit for in-state spending was negotiated with the Kauai Film Commission. The island was also selected for its similarity to Vietnam, based on its dense foliage, variety of terrains, and weather.
Two units shot simultaneously on the island of Kauai from the ground, and an aerial unit shot from helicopters.
Casting calls on the island of Kauai sought 500 residents to portray the villagers in the film.
Tropic Thunder was the first major studio production on Kauai in five years. After filming was completed, it was deemed the largest production filmed on the island to date, and contributed more than $60 million to the local economy.
Many of the sets and the bridge used for one of the final scenes were built in three months.
Filming for the Los Angeles and interior scenes occurred on sets at Universal Studios in Hollywood.
Former members of the U.S. military taught the actors how to handle, fire, and reload their weapons, as well as perform various tactical movements.
Apparently the opening war scene was filmed over three weeks and required fifty stuntmen.
In Tropic Thunder it's mentioned that Kirk Lazarus is a five-time Academy Award winner. As of the films original release Katharine Hepburn holds the record most acting awards ever won with four.
In the film, Damien's surname "Cockburn" is pronounced phonetically (probably for humorous effect), whereas it should be properly pronounced as "Coh-burn".
There is only one actual death in Tropic Thunder, that of the director Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan).
In his 'full-blown retard' Oscar monologue, Kirk cites Peter Sellers' performance in Being There (1979). While Sellers received a Golden Globe award, he did not win the Best Actor Oscar that year, which went to Dustin Hoffman for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).
The water buffalo that Jack Black's character rides was discovered to have been pregnant when the cast and crew came back to the set one morning and found her nursing a newborn calf.
The Flo Rida hit "Low" played on the cell phone by Les Grossman was added during post-production, when the song became a radio hit.
Near the end of the movie, during the Oscar ceremony you can see that Jon Voight's character is visibly angry when he loses the Oscar to Tugg Speedman. This is a reference to Voight losing the Oscar to John Wayne in True Grit (1969) when he was nominated for Midnight Cowboy (1969).
Tug Speedman's celebration leap while holding his Oscar spoofs a similar antic by Cuba Gooding Jr. after he won for Jerry McGuire (1996). Tugg's leap can be seen on the TV screen behind Les Grossman when Grossman is talking to his assistant and telling him a monkey could do your job.
The Wilhelm scream, which is a frequently-used film and television stock sound effect, is heard during the three-helicopter raid at the beginning of Tropic Thunder, when an enemy soldier is hit by gunfire and is blown backwards (elapsed time 6:04). Also, near the end of the movie when Tugg Speedman throws "Half-squat" into the river. When this throw is repeated in the end credits, the scream is heard again.
As a tie-in for the Tropic Thunder's release, Paramount Pictures announced it would market the energy drink known in the film as "Booty Sweat". Michael Corcoran, Paramount's president of consumer products, commented on the release: "We're very excited, because it has the potential to live for quite a while, well beyond the film." The drink was sold in college bookstores, on Amazon.com, and at other retailers.
Tropic Thunder Booty Sweat Energy Drink
The 'Booty Sweat' energy drink seen in the movie can still actually be purchased on Amazon.com as part of a promotional tie-in.
Six companies working on different scenes and elements created 500 shots of visual effects in the film. These were at times altered weekly due to the reactions of test audiences in screenings. CIS Visual Effects Group assisted with the Scorcher VI faux trailer and twenty additional shots for the home media release. To expand on the comedy in the film, some of the explosions and crashes were embellished to look more destructive.
Tropic Thunder was shipped to some theaters under the name "Capricorn".
The trailer of Tropic Thunder, released in April 2008, received the "Best Comedy Trailer" award at the 9th annual Golden Trailer Awards. DreamWorks also released a red band trailer, the first of its kind used by the studio to promote one of its films.
Disability advocates and others who previewed the film reported that the offensive treatment of individuals with mental disabilities was woven throughout the film's plot. Disability advocates urged people not to see the film, claiming it is demeaning to individuals with mental disabilities and would encourage bullying. Stiller defended the film, stating "We screened the movie so many times and this didn't come up until very late ... It's about actors and self-importance. I think the context of the movie it's pretty clear."
Co-writer Etan Cohen echoed Stiller's rationale: "Some people have taken this as making fun of handicapped people, but we're really trying to make fun of the actors who use this material as fodder for acclaim." He went on to state that the film lampoons actors who portray mentally retarded characters such as Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man and Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump.
As
the movie drew criticism from
several disability groups for the "Simple Jack" subplot, in which
Stiller's character portrays a mentally disabled man with clips of the
fictitious movie shown, and re-enacted by Stiller, and also
scenes
between Downey Jr. and Stiller drew particular scorn for their repeated
use of the word "retard", the producers withdrew the faux "Simple Jack"
website, and proposed altering the movie in response to a special early
screening for the disability groups in question, but did not follow
through on the suggestion. According to co-writer Etan Cohen, the
scenes were not meant to derive humor from mental disability itself,
but to satirize emotionally exploitative depictions of mental
disability in movies such as Forrest
Gump (1994), Rain
Man
(1988), I Am Sam
(2001), Radio (2003)
and the actors who
take these roles.A DreamWorks spokesman did not directly respond to the criticism, claiming that Tropic Thunder "... is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations."
In response to the disability controversy, the Tropic Thunder director's cut of the DVD (but not the Blu-ray) includes a public service announcement in the special features that discourages use of the word "retard".
Take look at this behind the scenes featurette for the filming of Tropic Thunder:
Interview with Ben Stiller, who wrote, directed and starred in Tropic Thunder:
Interview with Robert Downey Jr. :
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Faux Websites
In
mid-July 2008, a faux trailer for the mockumentary "Rain of
Madness" was released. The mockumentary was a parody of Hearts of Darkness: A
Filmmaker's
Apocalypse (1991).
It follows co-writer Justin Theroux as a fictional documentarian named
Jan Jürgen documenting the behind-the-scenes aspects of the film within
the film. Marketing for the faux documentary included a movie poster
and an official website prior to Tropic Thunder's release. The
mockumentary was released on the iTunes Store after the film's release
and was also included on the home video release.www.rainofmadness.com
Several faux websites were created for the main characters and some of their prior film roles:
www.tuggspeedman.com
www.kirklazarus.com
www.satansalley.com
www.alpa-chino.com
www.jeffportnoy.com
A website for Simple Jack, a faux film exhibited within the film, was removed by DreamWorks on August 4, due to protests from disability advocates.
In addition, other promotional websites were created for "Make Pretty Skin Clinic", the fictional company that performed the surgery of the film's character Kirk Lazarus, along with one for the energy drink "Booty Sweat":
www.makeprettyskinclinic.com
www.tropicthunder.com/bootysweat
Still want more, then visit the official webites.
Source:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942385/trivia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropic_Thunder
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