Trivia / Mermaids (1990)

• Billing Displacement: Winona Ryder is billed third after Cher and Bob Hoskins despite Charlotte being the main character.
• Creative Differences: Lasse Hallström initially was supposed to make his English-language directorial debut, but he had reportedly had butted heads with Cher and was replaced by Frank Oz and later Richard Benjamin.
• Dawson Casting:
  • 15-year-old Charlotte Flax is portrayed by then 18-year-old Winona Ryder, for obvious reasons.
  • Rachel Flax's age is never outright stated, but she says she was 16 when she had Charlotte which would make her around 31 years old. Cher was 44 at the time.
  • Downplayed with Michael Schoeffling as Joe Poretti. Joe is 26, Schoeffling was 30.
• Fake American: Lou is portrayed by English Bob Hoskins.
• Real-Life Relative: Christina Ricci's siblings play extras in the swim meet scene.
• The Other Marty: Emily Lloyd was originally cast as Charlotte and began filming, when Cher complained that the blonde Lloyd looked nothing like her or Christina Ricci, who have raven hair. Lloyd was replaced by Winona Ryder, and Lloyd later sued Orion Pictures and was given a cash settlement.
• Throw It In!: According to 'The New York Times, "the performance inside the costume was engineered entirely by Cher".
• What Could Have Been: Dudley Moore was originally considered for the role of Lou Lansky.

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