Trivia / Any Given Sunday

• All-Star Cast: The film is headlined by Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Jamie Foxx, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, Charlton Heston, Ann-Margaret, and LL Cool J, not to mention a lot of "that guy" faces like John C. McGinley, Lauren Holly, and Matthew Modine. This is certainly part of the reason this is considered one of the best sports movies ever made.
• Backed by the Pentagon: Averted. While Oliver Stone requested the NFL's permission to use team names and logos, the league flat out refused. The NFL even went so far as to try and prevent players from participating in the film. As a result, Stone cast players from the Arena Football League as extras.
• Billing Displacement: Despite playing the main protagonist, Jamie Foxx is billed fifth.
• Cast the Expert: Former NFL players Jim Brown and Lawrence "L.T" Taylor as Sharks Defensive Coordinator Montezuma Monroe and LB Luther "Shark" Lavay respectively.
• Deleted Role: Jim Caviezel played Tony D'Amato's estranged son, but his scenes were cut. Tom Sizemore also had a role in the film, but it was cut.
• Hostility on the Set: According to Jamie Foxx, LL Cool J took the scripted rivalry between their characters too seriously and punched Foxx in the face while filming the scene in which their characters fight. They then had an altercation in which Foxx received a cut on his head before the two were separated.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Warner Bros. wanted Clint Eastwood to star as Tony D'Amato. However, he also wanted to direct the picture, so the studio declined. Robert De Niro also turned it down, while Bruce Willis was considered.
  • The studio was also high on Sean Combs for the role of Willie Beamen, as the rapper was looking to break out into acting, but that idea died for the crew as soon as he threw a football (in short, he couldn't).
  • Ving Rhames turned down a role in this film.
  • According to Cuba Gooding Jr., he met with Oliver Stone about playing the role of Willie Beamen but Stone turned Gooding down because he had already played a football player in Jerry Maguire. Chris Tucker also turned down the role.
  • Tom Arnold was originally cast but had to pull out.
  • Stone wanted David Duchovny for the role of Dr. Allie Powers, but he was more interested in playing Cap Rooney. Stone didn't think he was right for the part, saying that his neck wasn't thick enough to be a quarterback.
  • In the shooting script, Christina Pagniacci was initially married.
• Working Title: The League.

---