Trivia / Bound (1996)

• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • Gina Gershon chose Corky's tattoos and where they would go.
  • She also suggested Joe Pantoliano for the part of Caesar.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $6 million. Box office, $3,802,260. Though it won several festival awards and brought attention to the Wachowski siblings.
• Breakthrough Hit: This was the film that convinced the studio of The Wachowskis' talent as directors so that they could make The Matrix, a screenplay/story they had come up with during the filming of their first screenplay, Assassins.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Jennifer Tilly originally read for Corky. She loved the role and was looking forward to playing a character very different from previous parts in her career. When the part of Violet became available, and Gina Gershon came in to read for Corky, Tilly agreed that Gershon would make a better Corky.
• Creator's Favorite: Joe Pantoliano named Caesar as his favorite role, while Jennifer Tilly named Violet as one of the best roles she ever had. Gina Gershon likewise said it was one of the films she was proudest of.
• DVD Commentary: The commentary features The Wachowskis along with feminist writer and sex educator Susie Bright, whom they consulted for the portrayal of lesbianism. Jennifer Tilly also shows up in the last 20 minutes. The track is notable for being the last time the Wachowskis did anything related to promotion for one of their films.
• Descended Creator: Susie Bright, a feminist author the Wachowskis were fans of, was sent the script and asked to be an extra. Noticing how little description was in the sex scenes, she offered to come on board as an intimacy coordinator. She still appears in the film as Jesse, who Corky tries to talk to in the bar.
• Enforced Method Acting: Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon were nervous about the sex scenes, and drank tequila together to prepare for filming.
• No Budget: The Wachowskis' original director of photography resigned on the grounds that he could not do the film with the limited budget he had available, nor did he know anyone he believed could. Subsequently, cinematographer Bill Pope was hired, who knew "a bunch of cheap guys".
• One for the Money; One for the Art: The Wachowskis made this to prove they had the chops to handle The Matrix.
• On-Set Injury:
  • Barry Kivel was injured when his head was banged against a toilet in the scene where Shelly was violently beaten in Caesar's bathroom. Gina Gershon was also injured.
  • In the scene between Corky and Caesar near the end of the film, Gershon struck a gun from Joe Pantoliano's hand so violently, that she required stitches.
• Reality Subtext: In the very first film directed by The Wachowskis, the film opens with an unconscious Corky tied up in a closet. Later in the film after its How We Got Here story, she busts out of the closet. One could see this moment as a retrospective metaphor for Lana and Lilly having to live their lives as men before coming out as trans women long after their careers have been established.
• Referenced by...: In The Matrix Resurrections, during the part where Thomas/Neo is looking at birds in the sky, a random business sign advertises a business called Corky's Massage with a bizarre logo (a Labrys, an asymmetric double-headed ritual axe, just like the one that Corky has as a tattoo on her arm).
• Throw It In!:
  • Jennifer Tilly added the finger lick.
  • Joe Pantoliano says he improvised the handshake when his character Caesar meets Corky in the apartment. “It gets a huge laugh because of where it was a minute ago.”
• What Could Have Been:
  • The film originally ended with a scene involving a parole officer, but they re-shot it
  • The Wachowskis wanted to use "The Girl from Ipanema" and Frank Sinatra songs, but could not afford to.
  • Marcia Gay Harden auditioned for one of the lead roles.
  • Linda Hamilton was considered for Violet.
  • Gina Gershon says that she was warned not to do the film because of the lesbian content, and she even left her agent over it.

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