History Trivia / BoogieNights

* TheDanza: William H. Macy as Little Bill.

** Creator/GwynethPaltrow was offered the part of Rollergirl. Creator/DrewBarrymore was also up for the role.

* StarMakingRole: For Creator/MarkWahlberg.

** Becky Barnett's husband [[DomesticAbuse abuses her shortly after they are married]], and she calls Dirk over to help her. He wrecks his car in the way, which explains the damage to his car seen in the movie. This subplot was removed after the director felt that seeing ''all'' of the characters have horrible lives [[DarknessInducedAudienceApathy would have been too depressing]].

* BigNameFan: Creator/StanleyKubrick of all people was one; when he met Anderson while producing ''Film/EyesWideShut'', he was delighted to learn that Anderson not only directed ''Boogie Nights'', but wrote it too.

** Creator/BenAffleck, Creator/ChristianBale, Creator/MattDamon, Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio[[note]]He did ''Film/Titanic1997'' instead[[/note]], Creator/VincentGallo, Creator/EthanHawke, Creator/JasonLee and Creator/JoaquinPhoenix[[note]]He refused to play a porn star[[/note]] were originally offered the part of Dirk Diggler.

* RealitySubtext: Regarding the devastating scene between Eddie Adams and his angry mother, Joanna Gleason asked Creator/PaulThomasAnderson if the material reflected the relationship between him and his own mother. Anderson became very quiet and did not answer the question. Gleason then told Anderson "You never have to forgive her."

* As mentioned previously, while he doesn't exactly regret it, Mark Wahlberg has come to view starring in the film as a "poor career choice".

* RealitySubtext: After filming the devastating scene between Eddie Adams and his angry mother, Joanna Gleason was talking to Creator/PaulThomasAnderson and asked him if the material reflected the relationship between Anderson and his own mother. Anderson became very quiet and did not answer the question. Gleason then put her hand on his shoulder and said "You don't have to forgive her."

* OldShame: Believe it or not, Creator/BurtReynolds views the film as this. After seeing a rough cut of the film, Reynolds fired his agent for recommending it and refused to ever work with Creator/PaulThomasAnderson again.

** Creator/GwynethPaltrow was offered the part of Rollergirl. Creator/DrewBarrymore and Tatum O'Neal were also up for the role.

* CastTheExpert: Little Bill's promiscuous wife is played by real-life porn star Nina Hartley.

* ActorAllusion:
** Several RealLife porn performers had [[TheCameo cameos]]. Nina Hartley appeared in several scenes as Little Bill's faithless wife. Veronica Hart is the judge at Amber Waves' custody hearing. More recent porn star Lil' Cinderella (credited as Amber Hunter) plays the Colonel's 'lady friend' who OD's at Jack's party, and Lexi Leigh plays one of Floyd's amateur porn stars. Summer Cummings and Skye Blue share a Jacuzzi.
** In a non-porn related example, Reed Rothchild shows off his magic skills to Kurt, who seems less than impressed. Kurt is played by Ricky Jay, a professional magician.

* HeyItsThatSound: [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie "You got the touch... you got the POWERRRRRR...."]]

** Although it's more of a star-making role example as most were largely unknown or a "Hey, it't that guy" at the time. Burt Reynolds was at the time the only big name in the movie, and he hadn't had a hit for about twenty years.

* CareerResurrection: For Creator/BurtReynolds.
** Unfortunately for Reynolds though he did not capitalize on it due to not getting along with Paul Thomas Anderson and not liking the film. Since it had been about twenty years since his last hit film and he'd been forced to declare bankruptcy due to a very messy divorce and some bad investments he squandered a golden opportunity.

* [[HeyItsThatSound Hey, It's That Song!]]: [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie "You got the touch... you got the POWERRRRRR...."]]

* ThrowItIn: The {{Angrish}} example mentioned on the main page was a typo by Anderson that he decided to leave.
** Also the joke at the end of the film with the misspelling of "Rodriguez" on the sign, was a result of PT Anderson's typo which rendered it "Rodriquez".

* CreatorBacklash: Mark Wahlberg is a devout Catholic. He ''[[http://ew.com/movies/2017/10/24/mark-wahlberg-boogie-nights-forgiveness/ does not]]'' like the fact that he made this movie.

*** It should be noted however, that prior to and during filming, only Burt Reynolds was or had been an actual star with a household name. For the rest of the cast this film may qualify as a StarmakingRole.