Trivia / Midnight Express

• Amateur Cast: Alan Parker wanted to cast unknown actors and actresses to enhance the feel of authenticity.
• Banned in China: The film was banned (and never released theatrically) in Turkey, until 1992 when the private TV channel HBB broadcast it.
• Breakthrough Hit: For Oliver Stone as a writer.
• California Doubling: Set in Turkey, but filmed in Malta.
• Creator Backlash: The real Billy Hayes has many times expressed regret at the negative way the nation of Turkey is portrayed in the movie. Oliver Stone later regretted it too, and issued an apology to the people of Turkey in 2004. Alan Parker has never officially apologised, but has said he would do things "differently" if he were making the film today.
• Dyeing for Your Art: In an attempt to really get into character, John Hurt stopped bathing for most of the 53-day schedule and reeked so badly in time, most of his colleagues avoided being close to him.
• Enforced Method Acting: For the scene where Billy bites another inmate's tongue out, Brad Davis carried a pig's tongue in his mouth.
• Executive Meddling: The studio were trying to push Richard Gere as the lead, which Alan Parker didn't like (as he had refused to audition). He persuaded the studio to let him audition other actors, and eventually Brad Davis won the part.
• Fake Nationality:
  • You can count on one hand the number of actual Turkish actors in the film (Yashaw Adem, who plays the police chief, and Kevork Malikyan, who plays the prosecutor).
  • Erich, the Swedish prisoner, is played by German actor Norbert Weisser.
• Reality Subtext: According to his book, Brad Davis had a drug problem of his own while promoting this film.
• Throw It In!: At the airport, the Turkish customs officer actually speaks Maltese to Billy. This was because the actor was Maltese and had forgotten his Turkish lines.
• What Could Have Been:
  • John Travolta and Richard Gere were considered for Billy Hayes. Dennis Quaid auditioned for the role, which if he gotten it, would have acted alongside his brother Randy Quaid, who played Jimmy Booth.
  • Vangelis was considered to score the picture and even composed a rough track. Reportedly, some of his unused material turned up in later projects, so at least it didn't go to waste.
  • The filmmakers' tried to acquire shooting permits in Istanbul, but the Turkish government flatly refused; both because Billy Hayes was still technically a fugitive, and the script's negative depiction of the country. Director Alan Parker scouted several different countries as a potential substitution; including Crete, Cyprus, Israel, France, Italy, Morocco, and Spain. He ultimately settled on Malta, and the film was banned in Turkey until 1992.
  • Oliver Stone's first choice for director was actually Michael Cimino. He declined, because he was about to start work on The Deer Hunter - and the two films ended up competing at the Oscars. They would later work together on Year of the Dragon.
  • Amnesty International had a tie-in with the film, but they revoked it as soon as they saw the finished product.
  • The screenplay had a climactic sequence showing Billy travelling through different countries after his escape. Alan Parker however felt that Billy leaving prison was a powerful enough note to end things on.

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