Follow TV Tropes

Following

Trivia / G.I. Jane

Go To

  • Actor-Inspired Element:
    • The famous Important Haircut scene was Demi Moore's idea.
    • Viggo Mortensen suggested Urgayle being a DH Lawrence fan.
  • Backed by the Pentagon: Initially, Ridley Scott was very on board with the idea of getting the Navy on board so they could get access to their hovercrafts. However, the Navy kept protesting the amount of swearing in the script, the use of the SEAL name and eventually demanded full creative oversight, so the film was made without backing.
  • Colbert Bump: The film received a renewed surge of attention after Chris Rock referenced it in a joke ("G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it!") at the 94th Academy Awards Ceremony in 2022 about Jada Pinkett Smith's baldness, which infamously resulted in her husband Will Smith walking onstage and slapping Rock across the face in retaliation.
  • Cowboy BeBop at His Computer: Often in reviews, its stated that Jordan is attempting to join the Navy SEALs. However, in the film, she's trying to join a fictional Navy special operations team. Although, this is understandable, since the Combined Reconnaissance Team is all too similar to the SEALs. The CRT is fictional, but many in the movie's universe refer to it as a SEAL Team, when in fact it is a combined arms spec ops unit that is made up mostly of SEALs. It's more an expy of the NSW Development Group (known as Team 6) than anything.
  • Creator Breakdown: Demi Moore was especially passionate about the film, and its failure and negative reception disheartened her, leading to a hiatus from the industry. However, she still counts the film as one of her favourites.
  • Creator Killer: This brought Danielle Alexandra's screenwriting career to an end.
  • Dyeing for Your Art: Demi Moore buzzed her hair down to the scalp on camera, and worked out religiously to simulate the effects of going through combat training.
  • Enforced Method Acting: Most of the cast endured a boot camp to prepare for their roles. Viggo Mortensen however prepared on his own for months, in order to drum up a natural feeling of resentment among the soldiers.
  • Executive Meddling: An alternate ending was filmed in which Jordan dies saving her Command Master Chief, and after her nationally televised funeral, three other women are shown reporting for CRT training. Even though this ending was more popular with test audiences, Disney execs chose the happier ending.
  • I Am Not Shazam: Demi Moore's character is not called Jane - she's Jordan O'Neil. 'GI Jane' is a nickname the press has for her.
  • The Other Marty: Sam Rockwell was cast in an unspecified role and went to several rehearsals before he fell ill and had to be replaced.
  • The Red Stapler: Many women were inspired to join the military after seeing the movie.
  • She Also Did: Primary screenwriter Danielle Alexandra co-created My Two Dads; and co-scripted the Quantum Leap episode "It's A Wonderful Leap".
  • Star-Derailing Role: This was the second under-performing film by Demi Moore, following Striptease. Both helped to destroy her reputation with audiences, even though critics were pretty warm to her performance in this movie.
  • Throw It In!: During the famous No-Holds-Barred Beatdown scene, Viggo Mortensen accidentally threw Demi Moore into the door and missed the pad she was supposed to hit.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • The original conception of Urgayle was an older character, and at one point Harvey Keitel was really interested in the role (although he was approached to play someone else, he lobbied for Urgayle). Ultimately it went to Viggo Mortensen.
    • A different opening was filmed featuring Jordan practicing a Skeleton run at a Winter Olympics training facility in Lake Placid. She would fail at the end due to not listening to her coach's instructions, establishing her main character flaw in thinking everything has to be done her way. It was included on the DVD.
    • David Twohy, who was hired to rewrite the script, originally wanted the third act to be just about Jordan surviving basic training. Ridley Scott however wanted to emulate Top Gun, by having her face real world combat at the end.

Top