Trivia / Sliding Doors

• Cast the Expert: Rowers from London Rowing club, Cygnet, were chosen to be John Hannah's crew mates in the film. The casting director initially went to Imperial College, but when it was noted that they were "all over two meters with flat stomachs" it was decided that lesser rowers than the elite set of internationals would be cast. This is deliberate in order to make Hannah look like the tall athletic one in the boat.
• Creator Breakdown: Peter Howitt was almost hit by a car. Seven years separated that fateful near-death experience and the finished product. In between, there were 20 script rewrites, thousands of pounds of debt, and one nervous breakdown. "All I could do was stay in my flat in Fulham and cry and write the script for Sliding Doors", Howitt revealed. "The worst lasted about three months. Then I slowly began to get better. Now I'm really glad it happened." He also stopped getting his hair cut until he was done with the movie.
• Doing It for the Art: John Hannah is partly responsible for the film getting made after the funding collapsed. He coincidentally happened to be in a meeting with Sydney Pollack and casually mentioned this great screenplay he was hoping to make. Pollack was sufficiently interested to read the script and immediately sorted out the funding.
• Fake Brit: Gwyneth Paltrow is American playing a British woman, but her accent is considered solid.
• Inspiration for the Work: Peter Howitt got the idea for the film after almost getting hit by a car. He was late in meeting a friend, and innocently walking along London's Charing Cross Road. "I couldn't decide if I should run for the train or first call my mate at a public phone," Howitt recalled. "I impulsively dashed across the street, and was nearly hit by a car, and that brush with death got me thinking. Something inside my head thought, 'That's interesting. What if he had hit me then?' What are the knock-on effects, the domino effects."
• Real-Life Relative: John Hannah's wife Joanna Roth has a small part as a "Suspicious Girl".
• Referenced by...:
  • "Sliding Frasiers" from season eight of Frasier follows two different timelines stemming from a seemingly-minor decision made by Frasier Crane. Ultimately, both timelines see him ending Valentine's Day alone.
  • Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt had an What If? episode taking inspiration from the movie, "Sliding Van Doors", which downright has the title character and her roommate Titus attending a screening of Sliding Doors as a timeline-changing event.
• What Could Have Been: Minnie Driver reportedly turned down the role of Helen. Gillian Anderson was also considered.

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