The film series
- Actor-Inspired Element: The eleven inch penis comment Stifler makes in the second film was suggested by David Duchovny as he and Seann William Scott had been shooting Evolution together.
- Banned in China: The movie was banned in Malaysia.
- Cast the Runner-Up: Alyson Hannigan was initially offered the role of Heather, but after reading the script she asked to play Michelle instead.
- The Cast Showoff: Mena Suvari did her own singing.
- Colbert Bump: The movie didn't invent the term 'MILF' but it sure popularized it.
- Corpsing: Jason Biggs can be seen trying not to laugh at Eugene Levy's "giant orgy" line.
- Creator Backlash: Both Jason Biggs and Shannon Elizabeth independently said there's no way the webcam scene would be made today, saying the implications of the original was a case of Didn't Think This Through. Though in Elizabeth's case, while she acknowledges it couldn't be done today, she herself doesn't actually regret filming the scene.Jason Biggs: At the time, I remember reading the script and being shocked that there was cameras on computers! That's what I took away from it originally! It wouldn't get made now and it couldn't get made now. The internet has changed everything, but specific to sex and teens, the conversation now is totally different now to what it was twenty plus years ago, so the art that's made surrounding it needs to be totally different.
- The Danza: Chris Klein as Chris Ostreicher, and John Cho and Justin Isfeld as the MILF Guys, John and Justin. Eugene Levy's character was named as Eugene on the movie's official website (but is not said in the film). Later films changed it to Noah.
- Dawson Casting:
- Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, and Tara Reid were 24 during production of the first film; Seann William Scott was 22 and John Cho was 27. They all play high school seniors.
- The main four-man band generally averts this; they were 18-20 to start. (Jason Biggs 20, Chris Klein 19, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Thomas Ian Nicholas 18).
- Deleted Role: Chris Penn filmed scenes as Stifler's dad in the second film, but they were cut after negative reactions from test audiences.
- Direct to Video: The "American Pie Presents" Spin-offs. Made Canon Discontinuity with the release of the fourth theatrical film.
- Fake Nationality:
- Jason Biggs has mentioned being confused about why he is typically cast as a Jewish character, despite not being Jewish himself in real life (likely it's because of his looks).
- Alyson Hannigan, meanwhile, is Jewish on her mother's side, but her character Michelle is specifically not, as pointed out by Jim's grandma in American Wedding.
- Shannon Elizabeth, of course, is American playing the Czech Foreign Exchange Student Nadia.
- Harpo Does Something Funny: Eugene Levy was told he could improvise most of his dialogue. Writer Adam Hertz mentioned in DVD commentary that he often didn't write any actual dialogue for him, instead preferring to sketch out what he wanted him to say instead of actual dialogue.
- I Am Not Spock: Examples.
- Jason Biggs (Jim, the dude who fucked a pie). He's since gotten over it and is just grateful to be cast in a film even if its a "Jim" type role, than be an unemployed actor.
- Seann William Scott (Stifler, the dude who drank semen beer, gets peed on and throws the wildest parties).
- Jennifer Coolidge (Stifler's Mom, the MILF).
- Irony as She Is Cast: The subplot from American Wedding, in which Jim’s grandma throws a fit after learning Jim is marrying a Gentile, is an ironic in-joke given that, in real life, Alyson Hannigan is Jewish and Jason Biggs isn’t.
- Method Acting: Alyson Hannigan stayed in character after shooting her scenes, as she would anoint herself by continuing to talk off-camera, like her quirky character Michelle, by ending sentences with a superfluous question mark.
- The Other Darrin:
- Stifler's little brother is played by Eli Marienthal in the first two films, but by Tad Hilgenbrink (as a high school senior) in the spin-off movie, Band Camp.
- Surprisingly averted like hell in the Japanese dubs, despite the time gap between sequels. Keep in mind Japanese dubs (and many foreign dubs, for that matter) tends to change voice actors between sequels when the voice actors aren't available or already deceased, but the Japanese one managed to keep almost all the voice actors from previous films, even the ones who voiced minor roles.
- The Other Marty: Bill Paxton was originally cast as Stifler's dad but had to leave the project due to his schedule.
- Role-Ending Misdemeanor: Jason Biggs had to do the sex scene himself because his body double showed up with an eight-inch-long scar across his stomach and was subsequently fired because of it.
- Sequel Gap: If you ignore the direct-to-video sequels, American Reunion is the first film with the original cast in 11 years.
- Similarly Named Works: Eugene Levy was also starring in an indie film called American Pie while shooting this one (the working title being 'East Great Falls High'). The indie changed its name to The Secret Life of Girls.
- Star-Making Role: Seann William Scott as Stifler. Tara Reid, Alyson Hannigan, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Eugene Levy were well-established at the time. The rest of the cast hasn't been... quite as lucky. John Cho would have his time come later, while Natasha Lyonne would experience a Career Resurrection with Orange Is the New Black.
- Those Two Actors: In addition to the films in this franchise, Eugene Levy and Jennifer Coolidge have co-starred many times. Ironically, their characters didn't actually share a scene until American Reunion.
- Throw It In!:
- Michelle dominating Jim in bed was thought up by Alyson Hannigan. Everyone immediately went for it.
- Finch's scooter breaking down outside the hot dog shop was unplanned, but so funny the directors left it in.
- Nadia checking herself out in the mirror was ad-libbed by Shannon Elizabeth.
When I walk to the mirror and I'm topless and I'm looking at myself, I kind of look at my stomach and think I'm not happy with the way I look, because that's what girls do. - What Could Have Been:
- A scene was scripted with Jim's younger brother walking in on him in a "sexual act", but it was never filmed.
- The first draft of the script had Stifler's first name being Ryan instead of Steve, and Paul Finch as Paul French.
- Jonathan Taylor Thomas was the studio's choice for Jim Levenstein, but he turned it down.
- Eliza Dushku was considered for a role in this film, sadly denying us a reunion between Willow and Faith.
- Bill Murray was considered for Noah Levenstein.
- Selma Blair was offered any of the female roles she wanted but turned them down saying "I just can't do another teen movie. Which was so dumb. I should have just ridden that wave."
- In an early draft of the script, Oz was called Zy.
- In the second film, The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth was not the first choice for the show played on Jim's TV. According to the DVD Commentary, the creators originally wanted to use Teletubbies, but switched to Timmy the Tooth, which was owned by Universal's home video arm at the time, MCA-Universal Home Entertainment, after they couldn't get the rights.
- Working Title: When submitting his script to studios, screenwriter Adam Herz titled it, Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love. It was later changed to Untitled Teenage Sex Project, East Great Falls High, then Great Falls, and finally, American Pie.
The song (and the album)
- The Walrus Was Paul: On the subject of "American Pie", the only concrete explanation Don McLean had given for many years was that it means he'll never have to work again. He had admitted that the line "February made me shiver/with every paper I'd deliver" was about him learning about the deaths of Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens while he was folding papers for his paper route. However, when he had his original manuscript of the lyrics auctioned in 2015, he included his original writer's notes in the sale, and also provided a more detailed explanation of the lyrics in the sale catalog notes. This confirmed many speculations and debunked others.
