FILM 1759: I, TONYA

FILM 1759: I, TONYA

TRIVIA: Allison Janney had seriously trained to become a figure skater throughout her childhood and adolescence. However, when she was 17, she accidentally walked into a sliding glass door and gravely injured her right leg. In 2014, during an interview on "Fresh Air," Janney told interviewer Terry Gross that her leg came close to being amputated. "I lost like three-quarters of my blood. I lost an artery and cut tendon....I was in the hospital for like seven--seven, eight weeks. I missed my first year of college. You know, and after that, of course, I didn't really--I didn't skate for a very long time."

Although Margot Robbie trained extensively for the role, she wasn't able to perform a triple axel, nor could a skating double be found as very few women figure skaters are able to perform the jump, producer Tom Ackerley stated, "There has been only six women since Tonya who have done a triple axel, even if there was one who was doing it today, she'd be training for the Olympics and couldn't risk doing it for the film." The jump was accomplished with the use of visual effects.

To prevent damaging her hair, Margot Robbie wears wigs as Tonya Harding. Surprisingly, the hair team used beer to achieve the "crunchy" permed look when regular hair products didn't produce the desired result.

Nancy Kerrigan stated in interviews relating to her Dancing with the Stars (2005) appearance that she wouldn't be seeing the movie despite not knowing how much of it would feature her, saying "I already lived through that."

Steven Rogers' script was featured on the 2016 Black List of the most-liked, unproduced scripts of the year.

Margot Robbie is five inches taller than Tonya Harding.

I, Tonya marks the third film Margot Robbie has features in in which breaking the fourth wall is a prominent part of the plot. The other two being The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) and The Big Short (2015). On I, Tonya and The Big Short her characters (Tonya Harding and, basically herself) speak to the audience, whereas her character in The Wolf of Wall Street (Naomi Lapaglia) does not.

FILM 1683: ICARUS

TRIVIA: The film was substantially edited after the premiere at Sundance Film Festival, where it was bought by Netflix. The new version debuted at Sundance London in June 2017 before being released on Netflix in August.

FILM 1306: FOXCATCHER

TRIVIA: According to Channing Tatum, he and Mark Ruffalo spent an intensive five to six months training for wrestling, which took its toll on the actors. During one particularly physical take, Channing insisted to Ruffalo "to just slap the shit out of me and get it over with," which resulted in Channing's eardrum accidentally getting popped. The take is in the film.

Steve Carell claimed that according to director Bennett Miller's wishes there was no joking between takes, and he did not socialize with the co-stars after work.

Before filming a particularly dark scene, Bennett Miller made Steve Carell write on a piece of paper the thing that he hates the most about himself and then put it in his pocket. Miller told Carell, "Just have it right there, and know that it's in a place where, if I was a dick, I could just grab it." According to Miller, the result is the favorite thing that he has put on film.

Steve Carell studied video footage of John duPont for hours. Carell told reporters after the film's screening at the Cannes Film Festival "I watched as much as I could, I read as much as I could about him and tried to get semblance about the type of person he was." According to director Bennett Miller, Carell's career as a comic actor hadn't suggested that he was right for the role until he had lunch with the actor. Miller said upon Carell's casting, "I think all comedians are dark."

The real Mark Schultz can be seen as an extra weighing in wrestlers in one scene. He was also very personable and approachable to the extras in the crowd scenes.

In the 1984 Olympic games Dave and Mark Schultz were accused of "excessive brutality" in their Olympic matches and a special official was assigned to monitor the rest of their bouts. Two of their opponents went straight to the hospital after their matches. Mark, 23, broke the left elbow of the 180.5-pound European champion, Resit Karabacak, 30 seconds into the match. Dave, sent Yugoslavia's Saban Sejdi to the hospital with a knee injury incurred during their 163-pound match.

Because the project took so many years to get off the ground, many actors were considered for the lead roles. Heath Ledger, Ryan Gosling and Bill Nighy were strongly considered for the lead roles in the early stages of production.

This is the third consecutive Bennett Miller film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role after Phillip Seymour Hoffman's win for Capote and Brad Pitt's nomination for Moneyball.

The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2008 Blacklist; a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.

Can't believe the Olympics are over!
See my experience of the games...

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