Trivia / Breaking the Waves

• Fake Scot: English Emily Watson as Scottish Bess McNeill.
• Production Posse: Stellan Skarsgård has appeared in five of Lars von Trier's other films, as well as making a cameo in Riget while and Udo Kier and Jean-Marc Barr and had previously worked with Von Trier on Europa.
• Re-Release Soundtrack: The film's theatrical release had David Bowie's "Life on Mars" play over the epilogue. Due to licensing issues, some home video releases replaced it with Elton John's "Your Song" epilogue. Current releases, restore the former song.
• Star-Making Role: For Emily Watson.
• Those Two Actors:
  • Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård, and Adrian Rawlins ended up working together again on Chernobyl.
  • Stellan Skarsgård and Udo Kier both appeared in Riget.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Helena Bonham Carter was originally cast in the role of Bess. One of the reasons she turned it down was because of the sex content, arguing she didn't feel comfortable enough with her body at that age. Madonna was also considered.
  • Viggo Mortensen was originally offered the role of Jan Nyman, but he was unavailable.

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