Trivia / Life as a House

• Actor-Inspired Element: Director Irwin Winkler confessed he never considered a rekindling love storyline between George and Robin until he saw the emotion displayed by Kevin Kline and Kristin Scott Thomas in their scenes together.
• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $27 million. Box office, $23,903,791.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Kevin Kline lost about twenty-five pounds and was also on a constant diet and had a trainer with him to give the impression that George is getting sicker and sicker.
  • During the scene where George finally tells Sam that he's dying, Hayden Christensen improvised punching a wall. For subsequent takes of the scene, he refused to add a pad to the section of the wall he was hitting, so his knuckles were swollen and bleeding by the time the scene was finished.
• The Other Marty: William Russ was cast as Kurt Walker and had filmed one scene before he was injured in a motorcycle crash that prevented him from being able to film the rest of his role, and was replaced by Scott Bakula. The DVD even features the scene Russ shot.
• Real-Life Relative: The video of George and young Sam playing surf is in fact a home video of Kevin Kline playing with his real life son Owen on the beach in Bermuda, shot by Kline's wife and Owen's mother Phoebe Cates, meaning that technically Owen briefly played his real life father's son in the film.
• Throw It In!: Director Irwin Winkler encouraged his cast to improvise moments leading into and following their scripted dialogue, many of which were included in the final film.
• What Could Have Been: Lindsay Lohan was strongly considered for the role of Alyssa Beck, and even screentested for it. While the filmmakers were impressed with Lohan, they ultimately gave Jena Malone the part, deciding they wanted someone slightly older. (Lohan was fourteen at the time of production.)

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