Trivia / Anne Frank: The Whole Story

• Dated History: The miniseries depicts Lena Hartog, the cleaning lady, betraying the Franks to the police. This claim was made in Melissa Mueller's biography, but the identity of the betrayer has never been verified. The SS officer who took the call has been recorded as saying that the informant had "the voice of a young woman". A 2015 biography raised the possibility that it could have been Bep's younger sister Nelly, a Nazi collaborator who disapproved of her family helping the Jews. She was witnessed by her other sister talking on the phone to the Gestapo that morning, but nothing was ever proven.
• Disowned Adaptation: The miniseries was not sanctioned by the Anne Frank Foundation, due to showing someone betraying the Franks, which has never been verified.
• Dyeing for Your Art: All four of the actresses agreed to have their hair cut off for the concentration camp scenes. It was only required for Jessica Manley (Margot) and Hannah Taylor Gordon (Anne) to do it, but Brenda Blethyn and Tatjana Blacher offered to do it as well out of solidarity. Earlier Hannah Taylor Gordon took ice skating lessons for a dream sequence.
• Fake Nationality: Most of the cast, essentially, who are all played by British people. Granted, this is often done in these kinds of films. The Austrian-born Miep is played by the American Lili Taylor.
• Real-Life Relative: Hannah Taylor Gordon's siblings appear as extras in a few scenes.
• What Could Have Been: Steven Spielberg was attached to produce but backed out after receiving a letter from one of Anne's relatives - as this miniseries was not based on the authorised account of Anne's life.
• Writing Around Trademarks: As the film was not sanctioned by the Anne Frank Foundation, it can't directly quote from the diary (as they own the copyright).