Trivia / Charlie's Angels (2000)

• Actor-Inspired Element: Crispin Glover came up with many of his character's eccentric traits, such as ripping off women's hair, sniffing it and then screaming.
• Breakaway Pop Hit: While the movie was successful enough to get a sequel, Destiny's Child recorded a tie-in song called "Independent Women Part I" that ended up as one of their biggest singles. It stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, and was voted number 77 on the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time, and is more remembered than the movie these days.
• The Cast Show Off:
  • During the Yodel-gram scene Alex is seen playing an accordion, which Lucy Liu did for real as she's a trained accordion player.
  • Liu is also a skilled Eskrima and wushu practitioner, while Cameron Diaz knows Kickboxing.
• Deleted Scene: The DVD contains three deleted scenes not used in the final theatrical cut of the film. Bits of these scenes can be seen in the "outtakes" reel shown during the end credits.
  • A scene during Corwin's party where Corwin challenged Bosley to a game of Marco Polo in his pool. When Corwin loses, he challenges Bosely to sumo wrestling.
  • A scene in Redstar Headquarters where Dylan and Natalie have their break-in interrupted when Corwin walks by. They run into the men's room. A clip from this scene was used in the opening credits of Full Throttle.
  • An extended version of Dylan and Eric Knox fooling around in his kitchen during the "Shake N Bake" sequence. In this version we see Dylan actually leaving the house. It is assumed she spends the night there in the final cut.
• Disowned Adaptation: In an 2000 interview, Kate Jackson spoke derisively about the upcoming film, saying only her, Farrah Fawcett and Jaclyn Smith were the "true" angels. Averted by Jaclyn Smith herself, who made an uncredited cameo in Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle as the spiritual angel who encourages Dylan.
• Dyeing for Your Art: The women trained with their martial arts master for three months, eight hours daily (except weekends).
• Executive Meddling: Barry Sonnenfeld wrote a draft, but a subsequent rewrite trashed everything except the opening scene, which doesn't inform the plot. Sonnenfeld joked that he wrote everything except the plot, dialogue and characters.
• Hostility on the Set: During the filming of the movie, there was apparently so much hostility between co-stars Bill Murray and Lucy Liu that it actually became violent. After Murray repeatedly called her acting skills into question she attacked him, forcing the crew to intervene and separate the pair. Director McG also claimed that Murray headbutted him, which Murray denies.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Cameron Diaz is a trained ballroom dancer, and had to be told to dance terribly after the dream sequence.
• Produced By Castmember: Shortly before the film went into full-scale production, Drew Barrymore bought the rights to the series so that she could produce it through her Flower Films production company. As producer, she also mandated the Angels eschew guns, as Drew Doesn't Like Guns in real life.
• Real-Life Relative: Luke Wilson's brother Andrew Wilson plays Corwin's chauffeur.
• Role Reprise:
  • John Forsythe once again reprises his role as Charlie from the TV series.
  • The Japanese dub deserves a special mention, as Charlie's Japanese voice actor (Tadashi Nakamura) reprises his role from the dub of the TV series in both films.
  • The Brazilian dub brings back Leonel Abrantes, who voiced Charlie in two of the original show's dubs.
• Romance on the Set: Drew Barrymore and Tom Green were dating at the time.
• Throw It In!: The shot of The Thin Man turning a corner while taking a drag, leaving a smoke trail over both shoulders, wasn't an intended shot; Glover simply made it happen while walking and McG was delighted to leave it in.
• Troubled Production: The film was a box-office hit and represented an early victory for all-female led action films in Hollywood, but it took years of work and uncertainty just to get it off the ground. A November 2000 Entertainment Weekly article laid some of the problems bare:
  • Sony Pictures was interested in bringing the classic Charlie's Angels to the big screen in 1998, and hired screenwriters Ed Solomon (Men in Black) and Ryan Rowe to develop a script. Then 24 year-old Drew Barrymore and producer Nancy Juvonen asked to come onboard upon hearing of Sony's plans, and pored through hundreds of video tapes and classic footage^note Drew Barrymore made a highlight reel when she pitched this film to Sony (Columbia Pictures) that included Enter the Dragon, Foul Play, Used Cars, and The Great Escape to capture the tone of the movie she wanted to make. to figure out a concept that would make the film work for the modern age. Despite their preparation, they went into production without a working script, and were forced to think on their feet as they went along. In total, the script was re-written at least thirty times until one was deemed "acceptable" by the producers and eventual director McG, and a total of 18(!) different writers were credited in the finished product.^note Lampshaded with a joke in Full Throttle, where Jason mentions that his film Maximum Extreme 2 has 11 writers and believes that means it "has to be good."
  • Casting was a nightmare. While Barrymore was eager to take on one of the lead roles, many of the crew's casting choices simply didn't pan out. Cameron Diaz refused to be in the film numerous times... until Barrymore swayed her after a half-hour phone call and promise of a $12 million paycheck. In turn, Barrymore and Diaz both personally tried to recruit Angelina Jolie, but she turned it down because she had already played a "tough girl", and didn't want to be pigeonholed into that kind of role forever. The role was then offered to Jada Pinkett Smith, who declined it to film Bamboozled instead. Thandiwe Newton was finally cast, but had to leave due to freak weather which caused Mission: Impossible II to overrun its shooting schedule^note In a July 2020 interview with Vulture, Thandiwe Newton said that the real reason that she backed out was because of remarks made by Sony Pictures honcho Amy Pascal that she felt were racist and director McG making inappropriate, objectifying comments about her body while discussing the movie with her.. Ashley Judd and Angie Harmon also passed on the role before Lucy Liu finally took on the role. Barrymore also tried to recruit the original series' cast members for the film, only to be hit with unrealistic demands — Kate Jackson demanded to play the villain of the film, while Farrah Fawcett would only get involved if she could have scenes interacting with Charlie in-person.
  • Finding a suitable director and writer wasn't a walk in the park, either. Multiple directors all turned down offers, including Baz Luhrmann, Alexander Payne and Frank Coraci before McG convinced Barrymore he could do the job. Writer John August (Go) was hired last-minute, and production got underway without any script besides a general idea of the plot and an opening scene.
  • Accusations flew during production over diva-like antics, with Diaz being given a higher credit over Barrymore, and arguments over everything ranging from the size of each actress' personal trailer to their ideas over the script. However, even that was nothing compared to...
  • Bill Murray, who notoriously feuded with Liu and McG on the set. It's telling that even though the cast and crew were trying to keep the production problems a secret, Juvonen readily admitted that Murray was a hassle to work with. A People Magazine feature on the film revealed that during the filming of one scene, Liu disagreed with the way it was written. Murray allegedly said, "I get why you're here (Barrymore), and you've got talent (Diaz)... but what in the hell are you (Liu) doing here? You can't act!" The remark allegedly led Liu to take a swing at him — causing fellow actors, including Barrymore and Diaz, to flee for their trailers and for shooting to cease for the day. When asked about the incident in 2012, Liu reportedly said "there's nothing to talk about."
  • In a separate incident, revealed by McG to The Guardian (U.K.) in 2009, he alleged that Murray headbutted him at one point on-set. Murray would later deny the allegations, then claim that McG "deserved to die".
  • It also didn't help that cast member Tom Green (Chad) learned that he had testicular cancer and would have to go to the hospital constantly. Barrymore, who was dating him, would often visit him in the hospital after leaving work.
  • Despite mixed reviews, the film was the 12th highest-grossing film of the year, earning $264.1 million at the box office, and led to a sequel (which Murray didn't return for).
• Uncredited Role: Mitch Glazer did uncredited work on the script.
• Wag the Director:
  • Drew Barrymore insisted that the Angels be able to do all their fighting without firearms, hence why only the bad guys use guns. Appropriately, the other two Angels are played by actresses with martial arts training.
  • The Thin Man originally had lines, but Crispin Glover disliked what was in the script and asked for them to be changed. The director and producer then decided to make him The Voiceless because it made the character more mysterious.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The role of Alex was originally offered to Angelina Jolie, who turned it down after admitting she was not a fan of the original series. It was then offered to Jada Pinkett Smith, who declined it to film Bamboozled instead. Thandiwe Newton was finally cast but had to leave owing to freak weather, which caused the Mission: Impossible II schedule to overrun. Aaliyah was was deemed too young. Other candidates included Jennifer Aniston, Asia Argento, Victoria Beckham, Halle Berry, Helena Bonham Carter, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lauryn Hill, Jodie Foster, Geri Halliwell, Salma Hayek, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman, Liv Tyler, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon, Robin Wright, Renée Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
    • Had Aniston accepted the role, then it would've been a Casting Gag moment between her and her Friends co-star Matt Le Blanc, who plays Alex's boyfriend Jason.
    • Newton later revealed in 2020 that her leaving the film was actually a lot more acrimonious, as she was disgusted with Sony executive Amy Pascal telling her to play the role more stereotypically black, even saying she seemed too educated for a black person, even though Newton studied at Cambridge. Newton also felt that her character was too objectified, and said that her character was going to be introduced with a close-up of her butt in tight denim.
  • Milla Jovovich, Alyssa Milano and Julia Roberts were among the many actresses who were forerunners for Natalie, Dylan and Alex.
  • Michael Imperioli was offered the role of Pete Komisky, but declined due to his commitment to The Sopranos.
  • Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith were invited to make Remake Cameo appearances, but declined. Reportedly, Fawcett said she'd only do it if she were allowed to be the voice of Charlie, and Jackson insisted on playing the role of Vivian Wood that eventually went to Kelly Lynch. Ultimately, John Forsythe and Smith did appear in its sequel. Smith's role was uncredited, however. Cheryl Ladd was up for a cameo, but the producers only wanted the original three.
  • Vivian Wood was intended as an Asian woman called Vivian Wu. When Lucy Liu was cast as Alex, they changed her to a white woman.

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