Trivia / Jungle Fever

• Actor-Shared Background: Why Samuel L. Jackson was able to convincingly play a drug addict, having just fought off a heroin and cocaine addiction right before he was cast in Jungle Fever.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Halle Berry was originally asked to audition for the role of Orin Goode. In order to shed her beauty queen image, she asked to audition for Vivian.
• Creator Couple: As in Do the Right Thing, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee play a couple.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Halle Berry refused to bathe for two weeks in preparation for a role as a crack addict.
• Fake Nationality: Mexican Anthony Quinn (who also had Irish and Native American ancestry) as Lou Carbone, an Italian.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: John Turturro wrote much of his own lines which Spike Lee incorporated into the script.
• In Memoriam: The film starts with a dedication to the memory of the murder victim Yusuf Hawkins.
• Reality Subtext: Samuel L. Jackson had just undergone treatment for drug addiction and had only two weeks from his discharge from rehab to the start of filming. Jackson has gone on record as saying that Gator's ravaged look was not make-up but actually the result of Jackson's own detoxification.
• Romance on the Set: Wesley Snipes and Halle Berry dated for a while.
• Star-Making Role: For Samuel L. Jackson, although it wasn't until the release of Pulp Fiction 3 years later that he'd officially shoot to the A-list.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Denzel Washington was considered to play Flipper.
  • Spike Lee asked Martin Scorsese to play Lou Carbone. Joe Pesci was also considered.
  • Marisa Tomei turned down the role of Angie Tucci because of scheduling conflicts with My Cousin Vinny.
• Write What You Know: The film is a result of Spike Lee's anger at his father for remarrying a white woman shortly after Spike's mother died.

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