Trivia / Quills

• Adaptational Attractiveness:
  • The historical Abbe de Coulmier was about four feet tall and is described in records as a hunchback. He's played by Joaquin Phoenix.
  • Geoffrey Rush's appearance and portrayal are rather more conventionally sexy than the real Marquis de Sade, who was broke and morbidly obese during his incarceration at Charenton.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Kate Winslet, who was 25 at the time the film was released, plays Madeleine Leclerc, who was 17 at the time of de Sade's death.
  • By the the film's end (1815, a year after Marquis de Sade's death), Dr. Royer-Collard would be roughly 47 years old. He is played by Michael Caine, who was 67 years old.
• Underage Casting:
  • Geoffrey Rush was 49 years old when the film was released, and played Marquis de Sade up through the latter's death at 74.
  • The 24 year old Joaquin Phoenix plays the 60-odd Abbé de Coulmier.