Trivia / Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011)

• Actor-Inspired Element: Gary Oldman went to Old Focals, an eyeglass store in Pasadena, California, to search for the right glasses to fit George Smiley: "Glasses are funny things. For Smiley, they're iconic. It's like Bond's Aston Martin or vodka martini." Oldman tried on hundreds of glass frames before he found the appropriate ones.
• All-Star Cast: Gary Oldman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones and John Hurt.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Benedict Cumberbatch stated that playing a spy was his dream job - "you are NEVER what you seem."
• Billing Displacement: Because everyone after Gary Oldman is listed alphabetically by surname, Kathy Burke's name comes first despite having a smaller role than others like Benedict Cumberbatch and Colin Firth.
• Cast the Runner-Up: John Hurt was an early choice for George Smiley in pre-production, but he was later given the role of Control.
• Dyeing for Your Art:
  • Gary Oldman was offered a gray-haired wig to wear for his role, but declined it in favor of bleaching his hair for a more natural hairdo for a middle-aged persona like Smiley. He also gained weight to visually reinforce Smiley as someone who takes a slow and cerebral approach to spycraft.
  • Benedict Cumberbatch as well - Guillam's hair is blonde, while Mr. Cumberbatch is naturally a ginger.
• Fake Scot: Toby Jones as Percy Alleine.
• In Memoriam: The film is dedicated to screenwriter Bridget O'Connor, who completed work on the film before her passing away from cancer.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Colin Firth and Mark Strong co-star in a movie where one plays a kindly schoolteacher haunted by his past, and one plays a depraved turncoat spy selling international secrets to the Soviets. Sounds pretty typical, unless you know that Strong's the schoolteacher and Firth's the evil spy.
  • Gary Oldman is best known for playing very hammy villains, so playing a heroic stoic like Smiley, is a complete 180 for him.
  • Likewise, Stephen Graham, normally known for playing Large Ham characters, plays the mild-mannered Jerry Westerby.
• What Could Have Been:
  • A sequel based on Smiley's People was in the works but eventually was dropped after the rights to the novel reverted to John le Carré's estate.
  • Park Chan-wook was offered the film at one point. In 2017 he eventually tapped to direct a six-part Mini Series adaptation of John le Carré's The Little Drummer Girl.
  • Michael Fassbender was originally cast as Ricki Tarr, but he had to back out because he was busy filming X-Men: First Class.
  • David Thewlis was considered for Roy Bland.
  • Ralph Fiennes was considered for Bill Haydon.
  • Jared Harris was originally cast as Percy Alleline, but had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
• Word of Gay: In the novel, Peter Guillam was in a relationship with a female musician named Camilla. In the movie, he is a homosexual in a relationship with a man, according to Benedict Cumberbatch, a creative decision that works well within this movie:
  Sexuality was a very powerful tool then. Guillam keeps his homosexuality secret because he is so open to blackmail. It necessitates a certain amount of secretiveness, which goes hand in hand with spying.

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