Though he’s best known for his comedic roles, one of the very first movies that Steve Carell starred in was the cult indie hit Little Miss Sunshine. The film is about the Hoovers, a dysfunctional family who go on a road trip in support of the youngest member wanting to take part in a beauty pageant.
The movie, written by Michael Arndt, had a micro-budget but managed to make over $100 million dollars at the box office, and it’s was a Best Picture nominee. However, the journey it took to get there was almost as rocky as the Hoovers’ trip to Redondo Beach.
10 Arndt Quit His Job As Matthew Broderick’s Assistant To Write The Movie
Having some great movies under his belt himself, Matthew Broderick was at one time one of the biggest Hollywood actors ever, and given how many scripts he was being sent, he needed an assistant. Before Arndt had written any screenplays, he mentioned that he used to always see all the spec scripts mounted up in Broderick’s house, and that’s what encouraged him to get to work on the his own.
Though Arndt quit so he could write Little Miss Sunshine, he only has good memories of working for the actor.
9 The Screenplay Was Written As A Reaction To An Arnold Schwarzenegger Quote
Though the whole road trip narrative where a lot of the scenes take place inside of a VW was based on Arndt’s childhood, the whole basis for the entire screenplay comes from a quote from Arnold Schwarzenegger. The exact quote was, “If there’s one thing in this world I hate, it’s losers. I despise them,” which is in keeping with how Richard Hoover teaches his children to never apologize.
Little Miss Sunshine tells viewers that not everyone can be winners, but the world isn’t simply made up of winners and losers, and if everyone measured themselves to Schwarzenegger’s success, they'd all be losers.
8 The Role Of Frank Was Written For Bill Murray
There are a lot of roles Bill Murray almost played, as he’s still a sought-after actor, even if he does only tend to take roles offered to him by Wes Anderson these days. However, few roles are ever written specifically with an actor in mind, but in this case, the role of Frank was created by Arndt specifically with Murray in mind.
It wouldn’t be the first time Murray has played a role like this, as his performances in Lost in Translation and Broken Flowers are similarly depressive.
7 There Was Studio Pressure To Cast Robin Williams
In the same New York Times article, it goes on to explain that when Murray wasn’t available, the studio wanted Robin Williams to take the lead role. Given that it’s hard for indie movies to find success without an A-list actor attached, the studio was worried that the film would fail without somebody like Williams.
But though the Mrs. Doubtfire star has broke type-casting many times, the role finally went to Steve Carell, an actor the studio was worried about due to him being a complete unknown at the time. But they shouldn’t have worried, as the movie, which had a budget of just $8 million, went on to be a huge commercial success.
6 The Original Writer Was Fired
After Arndt finally sold the screenplay and it was greenlit, it was demanded of him that he make significant changes. Arndt believed that the changes that the studio wanted to make were bad decisions and that if they were made, it would have hindered the success of the movie.
Because of this, Arndt refused to make the changes, as he didn’t want the failure of the movie to land on him, so he instead allowed himself to be fired from the project, despite it being his brainchild from the very beginning.
5 The Original Writer Was Rehired After The Second Writer Quit
According to the same Indie Wire article, the whole firing was a complete mess, and getting rid of Arndt was a big mistake. The second writer who replaced Arndt was working on the project for several weeks, but for reasons unknown, decided to leave before his work was finished.
This resulted in Arndt getting rehired, and though he claims there was no friction between him and the directors of the movie, he claims it was the most traumatic experience he ever had.
4 Paul Dano Was Cast Two Years Before Production Even Began
With Dano being the main villain in the upcoming The Batman, Little Miss Sunshine is one of his must-see performances before audiences see him as the Riddler. Little Miss Sunshine is the movie that put him on the map, and rightly so. Playing a 15-year-old who decides to take a vow of silence, much to the dismay of his family, Dano wowed audiences at such a young age, and the directors knew how great he was much earlier too.
According to The New York Times, Dano was cast a whole two years before the production of the movie even began.
3 Measures Were Taken So That Abigail Breslin Couldn’t Hear Alan Arkin’s Foul-Mouthed Tirades
At the time of filming the movie, Abigail Breslin, who many people forget played Olive, was just nine years old. This made it tough to shoot the scenes with Alan Arkin, as he would go off on vulgar tirades when she was in earshot.
In the movie, Olive wears big headphones and listens to music when these scenes happen, and in reality, the actress couldn’t hear what Arkin was saying. According to Breslin, she didn’t actually know what he said until she saw the movie herself.
2 Dwayne Was Supposed To Look A Lot different
In the movie, Dwayne is a scrawny, fairly short 15-year-old who has a full head of hair, but that wasn’t always the plan. According to the LA Times, the character was supposed to be a bodybuilder with a Mohawk, which is almost the complete opposite of the way that Dano depicts him in the movie.
But considering the type of character Dwayne is, as he’s completely introverted, the Mohawk and bodybuilding look wouldn’t exactly suit the character.
1 Completion Of The Movie Was Only Four Days Before Its First Screening
Usually, the completion of a movie comes weeks, and sometimes even months, before the release of the film, but the schedule for Little Miss Sunshine was much tighter. After Arndt completely re-wrote the ending just six weeks before the film’s release, the movie only completed post-production four days before it was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
It’s lucky that the whole thing was finished in time because it was at that festival where the movie was sold to Fox Searchlight for $10 million.
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