Trivia / Fighting with My Family

• Ability over Appearance: Florence Pugh is notably shorter compared to the real Paige, but the praise she got for her performance made it irrelevant.
• Actor-Shared Background:
  • The actors playing the English Bevis family are all English themselves except for Zak (who is Scottish).
  • Tessa Blanchard, the Stunt Double for Florence Pugh as Paige, also came from a Wrestling Family. More specifically, she's the daughter of WCW's Tully Blanchard, one of the original Four Horsemen of wrestling.
  • Much like the real A.J. Lee, Thea Trinidad is of Puerto Rican descent. Both of them are also married to fellow wrestlers (who are incidentally known for having many tattoos and their tendency to sit Indian style in the middle of the ring).
  • Jack Lowden and the real Zak Bevis were both born in 1990.
• Approval of God:
  • The real Bevis/Knight family loved their portrayal in the film.
  • A.J. Lee - who had long left WWE by the time the film was even greenlit - gave Thea Trinidad her approval. AJ's husband CM Punk also approved, even making a joking remark over the fact that they found someone who is "as short as his wife".
  • The Professional Wrestling industry in general are happy with the film.
• Billing Displacement:
  • Jack Lowden is billed fourth (with his screen mother Lena Headey billed second and his screen father Nick Frost billed third) despite playing the film's Deuteragonist.
  • Dwayne Johnson is included with the titular Bevis family in the posters despite him not being part of them (of course, he is the film's producer).
• California Doubling: Averted for the Bevises/Knights' earlier scenes, as most filming took place in Norwich. Ditto for the developmental scenes in Florida. Played straight when Paige defeated A.J. Lee for the Diva's Championship during the climax; The scene was shot in Los Angeles, but the actual event took place in New Orleans.
• Cast the Expert: A.J. Lee is played by fellow wrestler Thea Trinidad. Likewise for Florence Pugh's double as Paige, Tessa Blanchard.
• Dawson Casting:
  • While Florence Pugh was exactly the same age as Paige was when she debuted in WWE, she also portrayed her during her tryout when Paige was about to turn nineteen.
  • Wrestlers playing themselves such as Dwayne Johnson, Sheamus, Big Show, The Miz, and John Cena are obviously older than they were during the film's timeline.
  • Lena Headey is only two years younger than the real Sweet Saraya, so she's obviously older when playing the latter during the film's timeline.
  • Jack Lowden was in his late twenties playing Zak Bevis who was in his early twenties during the film's timeline. Ironically, Lowden and the real Zak are the same age.
• Descended Creator: Director and Writer Stephen Merchant and Producer Dwayne Johnson are also part of the film's cast.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Florence Pugh is naturally a blonde but died her hair jet black to play Paige. This was also the case for the real Paige.
• Enforced Method Acting: The dramatization of Paige winning the Divas' Championship was filmed at an actual WWE event.
• Fake Brit:
  • A Stunt Double example, with American Tessa Blanchard playing Paige in the wrestling scenes.
  • Zig-Zagged with Jack Lowden, who is Scottish but plays English Zak Bevis.
• Follow the Leader: Not long after the film's premiere, a Hulk Hogan Biopic was announced to be in the works. The Iron Claw, another Bio Pic about a Wrestling Family, was released in December 2023.
• Hostility on the Set: The shooting for the climactic scene of Paige defeating A.J. Lee caused some tension between producer Dwayne Johnson and WWE higher-ups Vince McMahon and Triple H due to Rock spontaneously calling estranged former WWE wrestler CM Punk (whom WWE were having legal battles with at the time) to please the crowd who were chanting Punk's name, which started due to the real AJ being Punk's wife.
• Irony as She Is Cast:
  • During the middle of the film, Paige dyes her hair blonde. Florence Pugh is naturally blonde but has to dye her hair jet black. For further irony, the real Paige is a natural blonde.
  • The cat owner Thea Trinidad as the dog owner A.J. Lee.
• No Stunt Double: Thea Trinidad as A.J. Lee, overlapping with Cast the Expert above.
• Playing Against Type: WWE Studios are producing the film. They've historically mostly produced mindless action films or lowbrow comedies (often Direct to Video too). This marks a more serious (though still light-hearted) and self-referential direction for them all.
• Playing with Character Type: A genre example. Florence Pugh, Jack Lowden, and Lena Headey are all known for their works in Costume Dramas. This film is still a Period Piece, but set in contemporary times.
• Production Posse: Dwayne Johnson has worked with both Vince Vaughn and Stephen Merchant in Be Cool and The Tooth Fairy, respectively.
• Real-Life Relative: The real Zak and Roy Bevis made cameos in the film as a gang leader and Garbage Wrestler, respectively.
• Separated-at-Birth Casting:
  • Florence Pugh's resemblance to Paige - once she's in the make-up - is uncanny.
  • Thea Trinidad has a passing resemblance to A.J. Lee, but what really stood out in Trinidad's performance is how she sounds like the real AJ.
• Starring a Star as a Star:
  • Respected and up and coming British actors play the prominent British Wrestling Family, the Knights.
    • Florence Pugh as Paige
    • Jack Lowden as Zak Zodiac
    • Lena Headey as Sweet Saraya
    • Nick Frost as Ricky Knight
    • James Burrows as Roy Knight/Zebra Kid
  • Thea Trinidad as A.J. Lee.
  • Dwayne Johnson, Sheamus, Big Show, The Miz, and John Cena as... themselves.
• Typecasting: Lena Headey often plays mothers of The Chosen One or children destined for greatness.
• Underage Casting:
  • The real Ricky Knight was in his late fifties during the film's timeline. Nick Frost was a month short on turning forty seven when the film was released. Their ages match during the prologue (set in the early 2000s), though.
  • James Burrows is a year younger than Jack Lowden who plays his younger brother. The age difference of the people they're playing is supposed to be nine years. Further, Burrows was twenty seven when shooting the film but the real Roy Bevis was thirty during the film's timeline.
  • Thea Trinidad just turned twenty six during filming. The real A.J. Lee just turned twenty seven in the film's timeline.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The real Paige was slated to be Florence Pugh's Stunt Double but was nursing an injury at the time. Santana Garrett was then originally assigned to fill the role but she and Pugh do not have the same body type so Tessa Blanchard was ultimately hired.
  • The entire Knight family were each offered to do a Real-Person Cameo. Only Roy and Zak obliged.
  • According to Paige, her father Ricky Knight originally wanted Ray Winstone to play him, but Nick Frost's performance won him over.
  • Becky Lynch was offered to appear on the film^note Becky was acquainted to the Knight family in real life, as she served as Sweet Saraya and Britani (Paige)'s manager in SHIMMER but declined, as she already took a short time off TV to shoot The Marine 6.
  • Not in the film itself, but The Rock randomly called CM Punk during the filming of the last match in an effort to stop the crowd chanting for him. Punk confirmed on his Twitter that he missed the call because he took his dog for a walk.

---