Trivia / Candyman

• Ability over Appearance: Candyman in the original story was a white British man but Tony Todd's performance has been so iconic it's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Virginia Madsen was originally set to play the part of Bernadette but with the film's relocation from Liverpool to Chicago, it was decided that the character should be played by an African-American actress.
• Enforced Method Acting: According to this video, Virginia Madsen was hypnotized and given a Trigger Phrase on set whenever filming the scenes where her character encountered Candyman. She became increasingly uncomfortable with it and eventually had it removed.
• Executive Meddling: According to Tony Todd, the studio cut several minutes of footage from the swirling embrace scene at the end of the film when Candyman tells Helen "Surrender to me" because they were leery of the interracial context of the scene.
• One-Take Wonder: DeJuan Guy was referred to as "One Take Jake", as he finished takes flawlessly.
• Similarly Named Works: Not to be confused with the Christina Aguilera song "Candyman".
• Star-Making Role: Tony Todd had some notable roles before (most notably in Platoon and the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead), but this was the film that made him a horror icon.
• Troubled Production: In order to ensure the film crew's safety filming the Cabrini-Green exterior scenes, various local gang members had to be promised roles as extras in exchange for the crew's safety. However, a sniper round took out one of the windows on the production van on the last day. Also, there were no practical special effects for the bee scenes, including the scene where bees flew out of Tony Todd's mouth; which is to say, the bees are all real and he only had a barrier at the back of his throat to protect inside his mouth. And despite getting lathered in a queen bee pheromone designed to ward off stinging, he was still stung multiple times (but turned this to his advantage with a contract clause which stated he'd be paid $1,000 per sting). And to top it off, Virginia Madsen was extremely allergic to bees, so the production crew had to go out of their way to make certain ambulances were on standby at all times.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Coupled with Questionable Casting in that the original choice for the role of Candyman was Eddie Murphy, of all people.
  • Virginia Madsen was originally set to play Bernadette until the actress who was set to play Helen became pregnant. Sandra Bullock was also considered for the role of Helen.
  • Tony Todd once suggested that Candyman should wear an eyepatch, but that was turned down by Bob Kean, the make up department designer.
  • According to Todd, he once heard a proposal for a crossover between Candyman and the Leprechaun movies. Todd immediately rejected the idea.

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