Trivia / Marie Antoinette (2006)

• Actor-Shared Background: Marianne Faithful plays the Austrian queen. Her mother had been an Austrian aristocrat.
• Approval of God: Jon King, lead singer of The Gang of Four, loved the use of "Natural's Not In It" when he saw the opening sequence.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Molly Shannon was pregnant at the time she was offered the role, and was so keen to do it, she had her doctor induce her so she could take part.
  "Now that Sofia has kids she always says, 'I cannot believe you told your doctor to push the baby out so you could do my movie.'"
• California Doubling: Defied. Sofia Coppola recalls various studios offering to shoot in Canada or Bulgaria to make the production cheaper, but she went with Sony because Amy Pascal was the only one who approved of shooting in France. They even filmed in Versailles itself, and the representatives were all too happy to accommodate once they realised the film wouldn't be "another dusty costume drama".
• Creator-Chosen Casting: Sofia Coppola wrote the title role with Kirsten Dunst in mind, inspired by their work together in The Virgin Suicides. She also wrote Louis XVI with Jason Schwartzman in mind.
• Creator Killer: Sofia Coppola was red-hot after the success of Lost in Translation, but this film's mixed reviews and financial failure put her career on ice for a decade. She ultimately has never returned to the same stature she had before this film was released, although she did find some critical success with indie films in the late 2010s and early 2020s, her 2023 biopic Priscilla was largely praised, and some critics and viewers have begun to more positively re-evaluate Marie Antoinette, though it still took well over a decade for Coppola to rebuild her reputation as a filmmaker.
• Creator-Preferred Adaptation: Lady Antonia Fraser, whose biography Marie Antoinette: The Journey served as the basis for the film, approved wholeheartedly of it. She had been a huge fan of Sofia Coppola and was especially moved by the decision to end the story as Marie is taken away from Versailles.
• Dawson Casting: Marie Antoinette is 14 when the film begins, whereas Kirsten Dunst was 24 when the film was released. The film covers nearly two decades, and by the end Marie Antoinette is in her 30s, older that Dunst, justifying it.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Jason Schwartzman had to gain 50 lbs of weight to play Louis, which he accomplished by eating a lot of donuts and drinking melted ice cream.
• Enforced Method Acting: Sofia Coppola ensured that Jamie Dornan and Kirsten Dunst would not meet until they shot their first scene together. And the scene was blocked so that they wouldn't interact until their characters did.
• Executive Meddling: Subverted. The studio suggested adding a voiceover to explain the historical events in more detail, but Sofia Coppola just ignored the note.
• Fake Nationality: Most of the cast use their own accents. Rose Byrne, however, fakes an English one.
• Friendship on the Set: The majority of the cast all became good friends, and the end of the filming period was marked by a grand wrap party that lasted several hours including into the next morning.
• Hostility on the Set: Rip Torn wasn't popular with most of the cast and crew, due to his cranky attitude and refusal to listen to Sofia Coppola's direction. Asia Argento was the only one he befriended, and she would often have to play mediator to get him to do his scenes.
• Magnum Opus Dissonance: Sofia Coppola had been developing this for years but was struggling to properly create the screenplay, so she turned to a quick, smaller story to take a break. That film turned out to be Lost in Translation.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Steve Coogan, best known for his comic and insincere roles, playing the Count of Mercy-Argenteau, Marie Antoinette's close adviser, and the one who is always being serious towards her.
  • Rose Byrne at the time had only done serious roles like Troy and Wicker Park, and this was the first time she played the comic relief.
• Production Posse: Kirsten Dunst had worked with Sofia Coppola in The Virgin Suicides and briefly again in The Bling Ring. She would also appear in Coppola's remake of The Beguiled. Likewise, Brian Reitzel had been the music supervisor on The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. Production designer KK Barrett had previously done Lost in Translation.
• Prop Recycling: Rose Byrne wore a few dresses that Marisa Berenson wore in Barry Lyndon.
• Real-Life Relative: Coppola cast her cousin Jason Schwartzman as Louis.
• Stunt Casting: The film casts many people who are the children of Hollywood stars or famous filmmakers, most notably Asia Argento as Madame du Barry.
• Throw It In!:
  • Asia Argento decided to ad-lib Madame du Barry burping at the dinner table, as she was a little tipsy from the actual champagne being served on set.
  • The famous Converse sneakers belonged to Kirsten Dunst's stand-in, and so they just shot a scene with them.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Louis XV was offered to Alain Delon but he turned it down. The reason he gave was that he didn't think his fans would appreciate him in the role, but there were rumours that he didn't think Sofia Coppola could do the story justice.
  • Angelina Jolie was the original choice for Madame du Barry but chose to do The Good Shepherd. Catherine Zeta-Jones ones also declined the role, and it went to Asia Argento.
  • The original script mentioned the infamous 'Diamond Necklace Affair' scandal. But it was never filmed.
  • Sofia Coppola wanted a Rolls Royce peeking out from the background in the dinner scene at the Petit Trianon, but the one they got didn't look "iconic enough".
  • Kirsten Dunst recalls doing an alternate take of the bedroom scene between her and Jamie Dornan where she flashed her breasts, but Sofia Coppola preferred the one without.

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