Trivia / Sid & Nancy

• Box Office Bomb: Budget, $4 million. Box office, $2,826,523.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Courtney Love auditioned for the role of Nancy Spungen, which eventually went to Chloe Webb; instead she was given the role of Nancy's friend Gretchen.
• Creator Backlash: Gary Oldman told Playboy that didn't like the film or his performance very much:
  I don't like myself in the movie, no. Frankly, I didn't want to make it in the first place...I don't think I played Sid Vicious very well
• Cut Song: Tears for Fears recorded "Swords and Knives" for the film, but it was rejected for not being punk enough; it ultimately wound up on their third studio album, The Seeds of Love.
• Dawson Casting:
  • Gary Oldman was 28 when he played Sid Vicious, who died at 21.
  • Chloe Webb was thirty when she played Nancy Sungen, who died at twenty.
  • Andrew Schofield was 28 when he played John Lydon, who was twenty at the time.
• Disowned Adaptation: John Lydon (a.k.a Johnny Rotten) has been pretty vocal about his dislike for this movie, particularly as he was never seriously consulted about any of the events, he also believed that band members were mischaracterised and the whole movie became a romanticised tale about drug use rather than a serious biopic. Additionally, according to Lydon, Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook hated the movie even more than him.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Gary Oldman lost weight to play the emaciated Vicious by eating nothing but "steamed fish and lots of melon". He was briefly hospitalized when he lost too much.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Despite playing one of the most famous punk musicians in history, Gary Oldman openly admits he was never a fan of punk music.
• Money, Dear Boy: Gary Oldman reportedly only took the role of Sid Vicious because it would pay well, having no particular fondness for the material or for punk music. That's not to say he didn't give it his all — he lost frightening amounts of weight to match Vicious' heroin-addict figure and reportedly stayed in character some nights after shooting while going clubbing with the cinematographer. That, and he gave the best and most faithful performance of anyone in the film.
  I was never really that interested in the punk movement. I was a blues guy: I liked Motown, James Brown. I read the script and thought it was a load of rubbish. But my agent said, "They're offering £35,000". I was getting £80 a week at the Royal Court at the time and I thought "I could do with a flat", it changed my life overnight.
• Star-Making Role: For Gary Oldman, although it would only take him years to become a mainstream star.
• Throw It In!: Chloe Webb and Gary Oldman improvised the dialogue in the scene leading up to Nancy's death but they based it on interviews and other materials available to them.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Alex Cox originally had Daniel Day-Lewis in mind for Sid Vicious.
  • Tim Roth was offered the role of John Lydon, but turned it down, as he felt that the history depicted was too recent.
• Working Title: Love Kills.

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