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Trivia / Dead Poets Society

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  • Approval of God: Peter Weir gave his approval to the 1994 stage adaptation, and attended the opening night.
  • Beam Me Up, Scotty!: A minor example; most parodies of the ending scene have every character shout "O Captain! My Captain!" when they stand up on their desk. In the film, only Todd and Knox say the phrase, while everyone else stands without saying anything.
  • California Doubling: Delaware for Vermont.
  • Cast the Expert: Simon Mein, the vicar seen in the film, was the actual vicar of the school they filmed in.
  • Completely Different Title: The Italian title for the movie is L'Attimo Fuggente (The Fleeting Moment) likely referring to the movie's message of Carpe Diem).
  • Creator Breakdown: Robin Williams was going through a divorce during filming, and was unusually stoic between takes.
  • Creator's Favorite: He'd go on to win the Academy Award for Good Will Hunting and probably be best remembered for Mrs. Doubtfire, Aladdin or Good Morning, Vietnam, but Mr. Keating was in fact Robin Williams' favorite role.
  • The Danza: Sort of. Although Mr. Keating's first name is John, during production he was referred to as 'Robin' to better bring out Robin Williams' spontaneity.
  • Dawson Casting: Largely averted, as most of the Dead Poets' actors were between the ages of 18-20, except for Gale Hansen (Charlie Dalton), who was 29. When they realized he equivocated about his age, he was forced to go through the casting process all over again.
  • Deleted Role: Lara Flynn Boyle was cast in a bit part as Chet's sister Ginny, but all of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, save for a few scenes in which she is glimpsed as a non-speaking extra. She's still listed in the credits.
  • Deleted Scene: An oft-shared image of Keating standing on two of his students' desks is not actually featured in the film itself.
    • As referred to above in Deleted Role, Chet's sister Ginny had her scenes cut, including one where Chris is talking to her while waiting for Chet to come down.
    • Keating entertains the class by doing a Black Comedy bit about cooking dogs for a meal.
    • A scene of some of Keating's students attempting to eat lunch with their left hand, until a teacher comes by to ask what they're doing. Knox tries to explain they're trying to break old habits, but the teacher doesn't buy it.
  • Dyeing for Your Art: All the cast had to get short, '50s-style haircuts. According to the "Look Back" special on the DVD, Ethan Hawke found this upsetting.
  • Enforced Method Acting:
    • The young actors all roomed together to help build up a believable bond.
    • The film was also shot in chronological order to help naturally portray the development of the boys' relationship with Mr. Keating. After Neil's suicide, Robert Sean Leonard was kept off set and didn't communicate with the others to create a natural feeling of loss amongst friends.
    • The boys were also told not to use modern slang, even between takes, to better immerse themselves in the time period.
  • Hostility on the Set: Subverted. Ethan Hawke was convinced Robin Williams hated him because their styles were so different. Hawke approached his role very seriously because he wanted to do a good job, and was determined not to break when Williams turned the full force of his Rapid-Fire Comedy on him. Unbeknownst to him, this actually impressed Robin, who recommended him to his first agent after filming ended.
  • Irony as She Is Cast: Ethan Hawke struggled terribly in school, and actually dropped out of college once he got this role.
  • One-Take Wonder: The scene where Todd cries in the snow after Neil's suicide was done in one take, because the snow was starting to fade and they wouldn't get another chance.
  • Playing Against Type: This film features Robin Williams in one of his earlier "serious" roles.
  • Production Nickname: Ethan Hawke called the film One Flew Over Robin's Nest.
  • Star-Making Role: Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke both got their big breaks with this film.
  • Throw It In!: Todd's crying in the snow was going to be an interior scene. However, it started to snow outside, and they quickly changed it to take advantage. As noted above, it was done in one take.
  • Wag the Director: In the very last scene, Cameron was supposed to stand on his desk as well, but Dylan Kussman vetoed the idea because he thought that it would not be in character. He was surprised when Peter Weir agreed.
  • What Could Have Been:
    • An earlier draft of the script included Ginny Danbury, Chet's sister and a friend of Chris's. Along with giving Chris more screentime, Ginny also had the role of Hermia in the play, and the actress who played her, Lara Flynn Boyle, still appears in those scenes, even though the scenes with her as Ginny were cut. Even though those scenes weren't technically necessary for the rest of the movie, it would've been nice for Chris to have a friend outside of her love triangle with Chet and Knox. There's even a hint at the character's existence when Chris mentions her to Knox at the party as if wanting to set them up.
    • Liam Neeson had originally landed the leading role, and the film was to be directed by Jeff Kanew, but lost it to Robin Williams when director Peter Weir came on board. Mel Gibson was briefly attached, but his asking price was too high. Dustin Hoffman was offered the role of John Keating, and the film would have been his directorial debut before he dropped out. Mickey Rourke passed when Peter Weir refused to make script changes. Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks, Bill Murray and Christopher Reeve were also considered for the role of Mr. Keating.
    • Originally, Cameron was supposed to stand on his desk in the final scene like the rest of the Society. However, Dylan Kussman, the actor who portrayed him, felt that this would be out of character and said so to Peter Weir. Weir agreed, so they changed it to Cameron remaining seated.
    • One early idea was to have Keating be dying of leukemia during the course of the film. This was changed so the film would focus on the boys instead.
    • River Phoenix wanted to play Neil Perry.
    • Sam Rockwell auditioned for Charlie Dalton.
    • Another early idea was for the students' passion to be dancing rather than poetry. In this case, the film's title would have been 'Sultans of Swing'.
    • According to Matt Damon, he and Ben Affleck auditioned for parts in this film.
  • Word of Saint Paul: Gale Hansen (who plays Charlie) admitted that in hindsight there was something between Neil and Todd, but none of the other characters knew if they acted on their feelings.
    Question on Twitter: "Was there ever more than friendship between Neil and Todd?"
    Hansen: "Looking back, yes. Though Charlie’s has no confirmation if it was ever consummated. Some things Neil took with him. And Todd never spoke about it."
  • Write What You Know: Screenwriter Tom Schulman based the film on his experiences at the Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tennessee, particularly with his inspirational teacher, Samuel Pickering. After the film came out, some of his old school friends phoned him up to ask if any of the characters had been based on them.

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