Trivia / Desperado

• Billing Displacement: Quentin Tarantino and Cheech Marin are in the film's opening credits. Less than thirty minutes in, both have been unceremoniously killed, with the former being little more than a One-Scene Wonder.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Though Quentin Tarantino wasn't initially cast in the movie, the character he plays was based on him. Steve Buscemi was originally cast in the role, but when Tarantino expressed an interest he was immediately given the part.
• The Cast Showoff: That's really Antonio Banderas playing and singing with Los Lobos in the dream sequence.
• Celebrity Voice Actor: In the DVD and VHS Japanese dub, Carolina is voiced by the gravure actress Yuko Fujimori.
• Completely Different Title: In Mexico, the film was released as "Pistolero".
• The Danza: Mariachi's buddy Buscemi, played by, ummm... Steve Buscemi.
• Deleted Scene: Robert Rodriguez was forced to make a massive number of cuts to the film's action scenes due to the unconventional usage of inverted squibs and guns that fired fake blood. The biggest cut was the entire final gunfight which the MPAA demanded so many cuts to that he opted to replace it with a Fade to White. To this day, none of these deleted scenes have been included in any of the home video releases.
• Directed By Castmember: The bathroom scene before the second bar shootout was directed by Antonio Banderas. Robert Rodriguez said he didn't like using 2nd unit crews and Banderas asked if he could direct the scene, to which Rodriguez agreed.
• Distracted by the Sexy: For the entire crew; the love scene between Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek was the one day all of the male crew members showed up to work, in hopes of seeing Salma Hayek nude (they even have the call sheets to prove it). They ended up going home disappointed, as the scene was ultimately shot with just the actors, the script supervisor, and Rodriguez himself behind the camera.
• Fake Nationality: In a case of Spexico, Spaniard Antonio Banderas as Mexican El Mariachi. Joaquim De Almeida (Bucho) is from Portugal.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: Los Lobos' entire score was comprised of jam sessions. Towards the middle of production, Robert Rodriguez asked them to start recording everything they'd jam on just in case they'd create something perfect spontaneously but forget it later.
• No Budget: Just as El Mariachi was Robert Rodriguez's attempt to "make $7,000 look like $1,000,000," this was his attempt to "make $7,000,000 look like $10,000,000." He did so by only using two stunt doubles, filming all of the big name actors in a single day and heavy storyboarding so as to keep a tight schedule.
• The Other Darrin: Antonio Banderas replaces Carlos Gallardo in the role of El Mariachi, including editing him into flashback scenes from the first movie.
• Star-Making Role:
  • Hello world, we'd like to introduce you to Antonio Banderas.
  • And Salma Hayek for that matter.
• What Could Have Been:
  • If Antonio Banderas hadn't been available, John Leguizamo would have played the Mariachi.
  • If not for his untimely death in 1994, Raúl Juliá would have played Bucho.
  • Jennifer Lopez tried out for the part of Carolina.
• Working Title: The movie was originally entitled El Pistolero ("The Gunman") to be consistent with the first film. It was changed at the request of the studio.
• You Look Familiar: Carlos Gallardo, the star of El Mariachi, plays one of the Mariachi's friends.

---