Trivia / Hollow Man

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Kevin Bacon wanted the part so bad, because he really wanted to play the Invisible Man (and all the attendant moral complications) and be part of the cool effects for invisibility that the advent of CGI would allow.
• Creator Backlash: Paul Verhoeven has admitted that he doesn't really like the film, reportedly due to the idea behind it not being at all idiosyncratic. This contributed to the movie being his latest American production...in 16 years. In 2013, Verhoeven said this to The Hollywood Reporter:
  "I decided after Hollow Man, this is a movie, the first movie that I made that I thought I should not have made. It made money and this and that, but it really is not me anymore. I think many other people could have done that. I don't think many people could have made RoboCop that way, or either Starship Troopers. But Hollow Man, I thought there might have been 20 directors in Hollywood who could have done that. I felt depressed with myself after 2002."
• Dyeing for Your Art: Kevin Bacon said it was his most difficult role ever given the uncomfortable getups he wore that would allow the effects artists to erase him in post-production, including suits, colored lenses and make-up◊ that would at times cover his hair and teeth. And that's not counting the suffocating and smelly latex mask used to make his character 'visible' for others.
• Enforced Method Acting: To get the right reaction from the cast, Paul Verhoeven had speakers put in different places on the set, and had Kevin Bacon's voice come from different speakers so the cast would genuinely react to the invisible character moving around. For the scene with the invisible gorilla, Paul screamed to the microphone, imitating gorilla noises.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Kevin Bacon had played a victim in another Slasher Movie, now in this slasher film, he's the slasher himself.
• Similarly Named Works: The producers had to purchase the rights for the unrelated novel The Hollow Man to use the title.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Edward Norton and Guy Pearce were considered for Sebastian.
  • Robert Downey Jr. was considered for Matthew Kensington.
  • Jennifer Lopez was offered the role of Linda McKay.

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