Trivia / Jagged Edge

• Hostility on the Set: According to Joe Eszterhas in his book Hollywood Animal, producer Martin Ransohoff was against the casting of Glenn Close saying she was "too ugly" for the part. Close eventually caught wind about this and demanded that she didn't want Ransohoff on set during the time she would shoot her scenes. Richard Marquand agreed with her and sent Ransohoff away. Infuriated, Ransohoff went to the studio heads trying to get Close and Marquand fired from the picture. The studio denied the action stating they were pleased with their work in the film.
• Technology Marches On: When Jack breaks into Teddy's house, he takes her phone off the line so that she can't call 911. These days, she'd undoubtedly have a cellphone.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Richard Marquand considered Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas for the lead roles. According to Joe Eszterhas in his book Hollywood Animal, Marquand met both actors separately to talk about the parts but said the meeting with Turner was a "chemical mismatch" and Douglas wasn't interested in doing a mystery thriller at that point.
  • Kevin Costner turned down the role of Jack Forrester.
  • Jane Fonda was originally attached to play Teddy Barnes. When she demanded that changes be made to Joe Eszterhas' script, the studio sided with Eszterhas and replaced her with Glenn Close.
• Working Title: Joe Eszterhas originally titled the screenplay Hearts of Fire. Columbia Pictures disliked the title and decided it had to be changed. They assigned a secretary at the studio to go through the script in an effort to come up with another title. The secretary found "jagged edge" in the description of the murder weapon: "a knife with a jagged edge". Eszterhas and director Richard Marquand would still get to use the original title when they collaborated again on 1987's Hearts of Fire.

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