Trivia / Dogville

• Ability over Appearance: Željko Ivanek does not look like Lars von Trier's original idea of Ben at all, but Trier had been impressed with his acting as the District Attorney in Dancer in the Dark, so when his original choice for the role had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict, he cast Ivanek instead
• California Doubling: The small Colorado mountain town of the title is played by a minimalist set in a Swedish warehouse.
• Completely Different Title: The Chinese release of this film loosely translates to Variations of Hell.
• Creator Backlash: By his own telling, Paul Bettany got tricked into being in the film by his friend Stellan Skarsgård and found it an unpleasant experience due to Lars von Trier's authoritarian directing style. He openly admitted to having never seen the finished film nor having any desire to.
• Dawson Casting: Intentionally so. Grace seems to be barely out of puberty. She's played by Nicole Kidman, then 36.
• Fake American: Nicole Kidman (Australian), Paul Bettany & Shauna Shim (British), Stellan Skarsgård & Harriet Andersson (Swedish), and Udo Kier (German).
• Hostility on the Set: There was so much internal conflict and drama during the making of this film that an entire documentary (Dogville Confessions) was made about it.

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