Trivia / The World According to Garp

• Breakthrough Hit: John Irving's first bestseller, allowing him to quit a teaching position and focus on writing full time.
• Creator Backlash: Irving always hated Garp's name, only intending it as a placeholder until he came up with something better.
• Dawson Casting: Garp is played from age 15 and up by then-30-year-old Robin Williams, while Glenn Close (herself only 4 years older than him) played his mother.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Robin Williams had his famously thick body hair waxed to play the younger Garp.
• Star-Making Role: For Glenn Close.
• Trans Character, Cis Actor: Cisgender actor John Lithgow portrays transgender woman Roberta Muldoon who was one of the women at the women's shelter run by the main character's mother.
• What Could Have Been: Jeff Daniels, Dustin Hoffman and Christopher Reeve turned down the lead role.
• Write What You Know: Like Garp, Irving grew up without ever knowing his biological father, with the unspoken rule that his relatives were forbidden to speak of him.

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