Trivia / Eye in the Sky

• Ability over Appearance: The role of Colonel Powell was written for a man, but was given a Gender Flip so Helen Mirren could star. This is not the first time this has happened to her - as Julie Taymor's film version of The Tempest changed the lead character to a female to accommodate her.
• Actor-Shared Background: Aaron Paul is from Idaho, like his character Steve Watts.
• Fake American: Phoebe Fox, who plays A1C Carrie Gershon, is British. Richard McCabe, who plays the Attorney General, is Scottish. South Africans Carl Beukes and Kim Engelbrecht play Americans Sgt. Mike Gleeson and Lucy Galvez.
• Fake Nationality: The movie was filmed in South Africa, so most of the extras playing Americans, Brits and Somalis are actually South African. Barkhad Abdi is the only cast member to be Somali, like his character.
• In Memoriam: The film is dedicated to Alan Rickman, as it was his final live-action appearance.
• No Budget: Only made for $13 million. It was apparently so tight that most of Helen Mirren's scenes had her delivering lines to the director while facing green screen. Most actors worked individually in other scenes, and none of the four leads even met until the wrap party.
• What Could Have Been: Colin Firth was set to star as the Foreign Secretary when the film was first announced in 2014. He was ultimately played by Iain Glen - though Colin Firth remained on board as producer.

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