Line #13 Trivia/Troy


1	!All spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned!
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3	* AllStarCast: Creator/BradPitt, Creator/EricBana, Creator/OrlandoBloom, Creator/DianeKruger, Creator/BrianCox, Creator/PeterOToole, Creator/RoseByrne, Creator/BrendanGleeson and Creator/SeanBean.
4	* AwesomeDearBoy: Creator/BrianCox revealed in Creator/Channel4's ''100 Greatest War Films'' that he said yes to the film because ever since he was a child, he'd always wanted to be in an EpicMovie and this was one of the few projects he ever actively pursued a role for. You can tell he's [[LargeHam really enjoying himself in it]].
5	* CaliforniaDoubling: Set in Greece and Turkey, but filmed in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Kalkara, Malta, Morocco and at London's Shepperton Studios.
6	* CastAsAMask: Creator/BradPitt also plays Patroclus disguised as Achilles, until he's killed by Hector.
7	* CastTheRunnerUp: Creator/EricBana apparently was given the option of various different characters before ultimately choosing Hector as he found Hector to be "such a great bloke."
8	* ContractualObligationProject: Brad Pitt only did the film after he'd dropped out of another, and had to fill a contractual obligation to the studio.
9	* CreatorBacklash:
10	** Creator/PeterOToole called the film "a disaster" and disliked Creator/WolfgangPetersen:
11	--->That kraut. What a clown he was. When it was all over I watched 15 minutes of the finished movie and then walked out. At least I had one good scene.
12	** Creator/BradPitt [[https://www.indiewire.com/2019/12/brad-pitt-bashes-troy-quality-movies-1202196125/ cited the film]] as a turning point in his career from starring in more accessible, commercial movies to largely working with critically acclaimed auteur directors.
13	* DawsonCasting: Creator/BradPitt was forty-one, Achilles died at twenty-five.
14	* DyeingForYourArt:
15	** Creator/BradPitt came on board having lost weight, grown a long beard and dyed his hair brown for another film that fell through -- so he worked out for six months to get into the shape required for the role. He also had to quit smoking during production.
16	** Creator/GarrettHedlund likewise gained 30 lbs. The rest of the male actors all had to shave and wax their chests completely.
17	** Creator/DianeKruger gained 15 lbs to play Helen, as the studio initially thought she was too skinny for the role.
18	* DuelingWorks: With ''Film/{{Alexander}}'', another historical Ancient Greek costume war epic with a big-name cast. While it had a mixed reception, ''Troy'' was much more successful grossing over $497 million at the box office unlike ''Alexander'' which bombed with critics and audiences.
19	* FakeBrit: As the movie uses TheQueensLatin, Scottish Creator/BrianCox, Australians Creator/EricBana and Creator/RoseByrne and the Americans Creator/BradPitt and Creator/GarrettHedlund all put on attempts at English accents. Irish Creator/BrendanGleeson and German Creator/DianeKruger keep their own accents.
20	* FatalMethodActing: George Camilleri, a bodybuilding extra, broke his leg while filming an action sequence at Għajn Tuffieħa. He was operated on the following day, but suffered complications and died two weeks later.
21	* FollowTheLeader: Followed in the wake of ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'' reviving the SwordAndSandal epic, and ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' trilogy reinforcing the general trend for epics. The film features ''Lord of the Rings'' alumni Creator/OrlandoBloom and Creator/SeanBean. It was also released in quick succession with other similar films like ''Film/KingArthur2004'', the aforementioned ''Alexander'' and ''Film/KingdomOfHeaven'' (which also starred Orlando Bloom).
22	* HostilityOnTheSet: In an interview with Creator/NormanReedus, Creator/DianeKruger revealed that she disliked Creator/PeterOToole, calling him the meanest co-star she ever worked with:
23	-->It kind of sucked. He's dead, so I can say that. But he wasn't the most pleasant person. He was just a drunk, and Peter O'Toole. You know, he had a two-day part, and I played Helen of Troy and he was Peter O'Toole, and he just wanted to make sure that everybody knew that he was Peter O'Toole. And he could barely make it up the stairs. We were on a set that was - you know, you have to climb, like, I don't know, 100 steps to go up. He was just - first of all, everybody thought he was gonna die right there and then. Because it was, you know, 120 degrees, and he had to walk up 100 stairs. And he was very old, and very drunk.
24	* IronyAsSheIsCast: Creator/SeanBean plays Odysseus, the progatonist of [[Literature/TheOdyssey the sequel Epic Poem]], which makes him effectively SavedByCanon. The famously ChronicallyKilledActor plays the only character in the film who ''can't'' die.
25	* MarketBasedTitle: Was released in Italian cinemas under the title "The Trojan War", due to the Italian word [[InMyLanguageThatSoundsLike "troia" being Italian slang for "prostitute"]].
26	* NoStuntDouble: Creator/BradPitt and Creator/EricBana did not use stunt doubles for their epic duel. They made a gentlemen's agreement to pay for every accidental hit; $50 for each light blow and $100 for each hard blow. Pitt ended up paying Bana $750, and Bana didn't owe Pitt anything.
27	* OnSetInjury: Fittingly, Creator/BradPitt tore his Achilles tendon at one point during filming.
28	* ReferencedBy: In a flashback in ''Series/MoneyHeistKoreaJointEconomicArea'', when the Professor asks the robbers if any of them know about the Trojan Horse, Denver says that he knew it from "the Brad Pitt film."
29	* StarMakingRole: Both Creator/RoseByrne and Creator/DianeKruger were virtually unknown before this film. Their roles as Briseis and Helen respectively helped launch their careers.
30	* TroubledProduction: Tamer than most examples but still troubled. Filming happened in Morocco at first but had to be moved due to the impending Iraq war. Filming in Malta also led to the set being besieged by paparazzi trying to get pictures of Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom in particular - the noise from their helicopters rendering several takes unusable. Filming then happened in Mexico, where two hurricanes tore through the sets, and marine biologists had to be on hand to ensure the safety of the area's endangered turtle population. Many stagehands also fainted in the intense heat. The destruction of the sets and Brad Pitt injuring his Achilles tendon led to filming being postponed until December, meaning even less time to shoot than before, inflating the budget even further. Wolfgang Petersen confessed that most of the CGI budget went towards digitally erasing the long shadows in outdoor scenes.
31	* WagTheDirector: Wolfgang Petersen asked Peter O'Toole to tone down his famously posh accent, but he refused.
32	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
33	** Before Wolfgang Petersen came on board, Christopher Nolan was the one being eyed for the director's chair, having just scored a BreakthroughHit with ''{{Film/Memento}}''. Ironically, the former was considering between ''Troy'' and the script that would eventually become ''Film/BatmanBegins''.
34	** Composer Gabriel Yared originally worked on the score for over a year, and Tanja Carovska provided vocals on various portions of the music (as she later would on Music/JamesHorner's score). However, reactions to the unfinished score at test screenings were negative, stating that it sounded too "old-fashioned", and in less than a day Yared was off the project without a chance to fix or change his music. James Horner composed a replacement score in about four weeks. However, Yared's music was later restored for the Director's Cut.
35	** Creator/KeiraKnightley apparently auditioned for the role of Briseis. Given that she would have been 17 at the time, she likely was deemed too young for the love scenes required.
36	** Helen was actually meant to be TheGhost early in production. WordOfGod is that - due to her status as the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman - it would be impossible for anyone to live up to audience's expectations. Producers insisted Helen had to appear in the film, and Creator/NicoleKidman was who the studio was favouring. Wolfgang Petersen however felt casting an unknown would be better.
37	** The Greek Gods were originally in the plot, following the mythology. The director chose to drop them, opting for a {{Demythification}} interpretation. The exception is Thetis, though the film never states if she's meant to be a goddess or not (Achilles does claim to have seen the gods later in the film).
38	** Creator/TerryGilliam was offered the chance to direct the movie. He read 5 pages of the script and declined. Creator/ChristopherNolan was also offered the job.
39	** Creator/AishwaryaRai was offered the role of Briseis, but she declined because she felt uncomfortable with doing the lovemaking scenes included, as well as being reluctant to commit to six months of work.
40	* WorkingTitle: Early in production the film was titled ''Trojan War''. This has continued as an alternate title in some non-US markets.

Context Trivia / Troy