Trivia / Paul

• Ability over Appearance: The Big Guy was originally written as a man.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Sigourney Weaver jumped at the chance to appear in the film as she felt it was a love letter to science fiction fans and a genre that has been very good to her in her career.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Nick Frost for once not playing The Ditz. It can be argued that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are both the Manchild in this case, as where normally for an Edgar Wright film it's one or the other.
  • Bill Hader as a semi-serious special agent who goes a bit Ax-Crazy, rather than a funny guy.
• Production Posse: This is the fourth project Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have starred in together, following the TV show Spaced and the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
• Reality Subtext: At the end, Pat tells Ruth that she would look even better with her clothes off. The actress who plays her, Jane Lynch, is a lesbian.
• Stillborn Franchise: A sequel for the film, entitled Pauls, was considered until prohibitive costs ruled it out.
• Voice-Only Cameo: Steven Spielberg is heard on the answerphone talking to Paul.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Pegg and Frost had wanted Yeardley Smith for the role of The Big Guy, but she turned them down.
  • They had also originally imagined Danny DeVito as Paul. They originally felt an older actor like Jack Nicholson or Rip Torn would be ideal for the voice, but when the studio suggested Seth Rogen they liked the idea, due to Rogen's distinguishable voice.
  • Edgar Wright was supposed to direct, but he had to drop out in order to direct Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

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