History Trivia / TommyBoy

* HostilityOnTheSet: According to Creator/DavidSpade, he and Creator/ChrisFarley got into a physical altercation on the set. After Spade had gone out for a drink with Creator/RobLowe the night before, Farley became very jealous and angrily repeated "How's Rob Lowe?" Spade got so fed up with Farley hounding him on the subject that he threw his Diet Coke on him, to which Farley responded by throwing Spade into a wall and down the stairs. After the fight, Spade walked off the set and refused to continue filming. In another incident that also arose due to Farley's jealousy, Farley stomped down hard on Spade's hand. The pair would sometimes go for hours without talking to each other, talk to each other through the director, etc.

** In the original script, Richard was Tommy's stepbrother with whom he had an estranged relationship. When Peter Segal came on board, he changed revised Richard to being a co-worker and made Tommy's stepbrother a completely separate character.

* ActorInspiredElement: Several of Tommy and Richard's interactions (the "Does this make me look fat?""No your face does." exchange, "Fat Guy in a Little Coat", etc.) were things Chris Farley and David Spade actually did and said to each other that the writers incorporated into the film.
* ActorSharedBackground: Like Tommy, Creator/ChrisFarley also graduated from Marquette University in Wisconsin and did sales for his father's business as his first post-graduate job.
* DyeingForYourArt: David Spade refused to let any stylist touch his hair during the filming of the movie, and also avoided combing or using a hair dryer off the set to make his character look perpetually stressed.
* EnforcedMethodActing: David Spade and Chris Farley were real life VitriolicBestBuds, right up until Farley's passing, but because of numerous tensions (see HostilityOnTheSet) they ''really were'' driving each other nuts during the making of this film.
* FakeAmerican: Creator/DanAykroyd (Ontarian by birth) takes a Superfans-esque Chicago accent in playing Zalinsky.
** ActorAllusion: [[Film/TheBluesBrothers Not the first time he's put on a (convincing) Chicago accent]].
* HostilityOnTheSet: According to Creator/DavidSpade, he and Creator/ChrisFarley got into a physical altercation on the set. Spade had gone out for a drink with Creator/RobLowe the night before. Farley had become very jealous and angrily repeated "How's Rob Lowe?". David got so fed up with Chris hounding him on the subject that he threw his Diet Coke on him, to which Chris responded by throwing David into a wall and down the stairs. After the fight, Spade walked off the set and refused to continue filming. In another incident, also arising due to Farley's jealousy, Farley stomped down hard on Spade's hand. The pair would sometimes go for hours without talking to each other, talk to each other through the director, etc.
* RomanceOnTheSet: The gorgeous blonde woman who goes skinny-dipping in the motel swimming pool ended up dating Chris Farley for a while after she was introduced to him by David Spade. However, David Spade had his own romantic designs on her and was reportedly not happy about his JustFriends status.
* ThrowItIn: While there are probably other examples, "Does this make me look fat?" "No, your face does" is confirmed to have begun as an ad-lib.

** Creator/RobLowe. He turned down being billed as he didn't want to have to pay Screen Actors Guild fees for being in the film.

** Tommy's name in the original script was actually Billy. Creator/LorneMichaels requested it be changed to avoid confusion with ''Film/BillyMadison''.
** The film was initially titled "Rocky Road" and kept that title for so long that the marketing team even made [[https://www.businessinsider.com/original-tommy-boy-poster-when-called-rocky-road-2013-12 posters featuring it.]]
** The director had every intention of deleting the scene in which Tommy and Richard triumphantly drive back to Sandusky while singing along to the radio, believing it didn't work. An editor felt the scene was at least worth finishing before making that decision, and the director found it actually ''did'' work with audible music, deciding to keep it in. A WCHB we can be grateful didn't happen!
** Creator/ChristianSlater was considered for Richard. Chris Farley pushed for one of his two [=SNL=] co-stars to play Richard: Creator/DavidSpade, or Creator/AdamSandler. Sandler wound up shooting ''Billy Madison'' instead, so Spade got the role.

** Scheduling conflicts almost forced Creator/RobLowe to drop out of the film. This resulted in the filmmakers holding impromptu auditions while the movie was already filming for the part of Paul Barish. Creator/MatthewMcConaughey was one of the actors who auditioned. Eventually, Lowe's scheduling conflicts were resolved and he was able to appear.

* WorkingTitle: ''Billy the Third: A Midwestern''. However Creator/LorneMichaels was also working on ''Film/BillyMadison'' and insisted the change. Other names considered included ''Fat Chance'' and ''XL'' before settling on ''Tommy Boy''. It was shot under the title ''Rocky Road''.

* This movie made it on Creator/RogerEbert's [[Main/RogerEbertMostHatedFilmList most hated movie list.]]

* EnforcedMethodActing: David Spade and Chris Farley were on again, off again friends, right up until Farley's passing, but because of numerous tensions (see HostilityOnTheSet) they ''really were'' driving each other nuts during the making of this film.

** The film was initially titled "Rocky Road" and kept that title for so long that the marketing team even made [[ https://www.businessinsider.com/original-tommy-boy-poster-when-called-rocky-road-2013-12 posters featuring it.]]

** Creator/ChristianSlater was considered for Richard. Chris Farley pushed for one of his two [=SNL=] co-stars to play Richard: Creator/DavidSpade, or Creator/AdamSandler. Sandler wound up shooting ''Film/BillyMadison'' instead, so Spade got the role.

* ActorSharedBackground: Like Tommy, Creator/ChrisFarley also graduated from Marquette University in Wisconsin.

* ActorAllusion:
** When Tommy's future step-mother (Creator/BoDerek) first appears, he calls her a "Film/{{Ten}}".
** During the flight to Chicago, Creator/DavidSpade is a rude flight attendant. [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Why does that sound familiar?]]

** Creator/ChristianSlater was considered for Richard. Chris Farley pushed for one of his two [=SNL=] co-stars to play Richard: David Spade, or Creator/AdamSandler. Sandler wound up shooting ''Film/BillyMadison'' instead, so Spade got the role.
** The character of Helen the Waiter was originally written for Roseanne Barr, but she was unavailable.

* HostilityOnTheSet: According to Creator/DavidSpade, he and Creator/ChrisFarley got into a physical altercation on the set. Spade had gone out for a drink with Creator/RobLowe the night before. Farley had become very jealous and angrily repeated "How's Rob Lowe?". David got so fed up with Chris hounding him on the subject that he threw his Diet Coke on him, to which Chris responded by throwing David into a wall and down the stairs. After the fight, Spade walked off the set and refused to continue filming. The pair would sometimes go for hours without talking to each other, talk to each other through the director, etc.

** Creator/ChristianSlater was considered for Richard.

* FakeAmerican: Dan Aykroyd (Ontarian by birth) takes a Superfans-esque Chicago accent in playing Zalinsky.

* UncreditedRole: Creator/RobLowe. He turned down being billed as he didn't want to have to pay Screen Actors Guild fees for being in the film.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The director had every intention of deleting the scene in which Tommy and Richard triumphantly drive back to Sandusky while singing along to the radio, believing it didn't work. An editor felt the scene was at least worth finishing before making that decision, and the director found it actually ''did'' work with audible music, deciding to keep it in. A WCHB we can be grateful didn't happen!

* UncreditedRole: Rob Lowe. He turned down being billed as he didn't want to have to pay Screen Actors Guild fees for being in the film.

** When Tommy's future step-mother (Bo Derek) first appears, he calls her a "Film/{{Ten}}".

** When Tommy's future step-mother first appears she is referred to as being a "ten". Bo Derek has been referred to as being a "ten" before in ''Film/{{Ten}}''.

* HeyItsThatGuy: One of the bank security guards who throws his gun to Tommy is Canadian comedian [[http://ronjames.ca/ Ron James]]

* ThrowItIn: While there are probably other examples, "Does this make me look fat?" "No, your face does" is confirmed to have begun as an ad-lib.

** Tommy graduates from Marquette University, which also happens to be Chris Farley's alma mater.

** When Tommy's future step-mother first appears she is referred to as being a "ten". Bo Derek has been referred to as being a "ten" before in the movie ''10''.
** During the flight to Chicago, David Spade is a rude flight attendant. [[Series/SaturdayNightLive Why does that sound familiar?]]
** Tommy graduates from Marquette University, which was Chris Farley's real-life alma mater.

* HeyItsThatGuy: One of the bank security guards who throws his gun to Tommy is Canadian comedian [[http://ronjames.ca/ Ron James]]

** ActorAllusion: [[Film/BluesBrothers Not the first time he's put on a (convincing) Chicago accent]].

* FakeAmerican: Dan Aykroyd (Ontarian by birth) takes a Superfans-esque Chicago accent in playing Zalinsky.