Trivia / Ocean's Eleven

• Acting in the Dark:
  • When Danny asks Basher where they can find a pinch, he shrugs before we cut to the gang stealing it from an institute. In reality, Don Cheadle really didn't know, because the scene hadn't been written yet.
  • The reaction shots of Terry Benedict in Thirteen sitting in his office watching surveillance of the heist were all shot without knowing how or when they would be used. Steven Soderbergh had Andy García sit down and act out a variety of emotions so that Benedict would have a place in the story. Garcia had no idea what he was reacting to.
• Acting for Two:
  • Averted in the Italian dub. Before the film was made, Brad Pitt and George Clooney were always dubbed by the same actor. Instead of having him voice both actors, the studio had him continue to be the Italian Brad Pitt and hired another actor to be Clooney.
  • Played straight briefly in Twelve when Tess ends up on the phone to Julia Roberts, leaving Roberts talking to herself for until Tess can hang up.
• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • The Running Gag of Rusty eating something during a scene came from Brad Pitt's penchant to eat close to shooting rather than on breaks, so Steven Soderbergh decided to just let him eat on-camera. During the numerous takes needed to film the scene of Rusty and Linus spying on Tess by the staircase, Brad Pitt ate 40 shrimp.
  • Elliott Gould suggested that Reuben would smoke cigars and wear gold necklaces.
• All-Star Cast: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Andy García are just a piece of cake. The entire trilogy consists of one big name after another, including cameos. The in-universe spin-off, Ocean's 8, just adds even more names with Sandra Bullock as Danny's sister and Cate Blanchett, among others, on the lead.
• Breakaway Pop Hit: The Elvis Presley song "A Little Less Conversation" was chosen for the Las Vegas montage because it was identifiable as a Vegas song yet not as obvious as "Viva Las Vegas". One of Elvis' least known songs, it received a remixed version and became a hit on the radio.
• California Doubling: In Twelve, when the crew enters the Thalys on Amsterdam Central Station, they are actually on Haarlem Central Station. The actual station in Amsterdam was undergoing major renovations, which didn't look pretty on screen. For this occasion, a Thalys was transported from Amsterdam to Haarlem. Unfortunately, this Thalys pulled down a catenary, causing property damage and delays in shooting.
• Cast the Runner-Up: Bruce Willis was considered for both Danny Ocean and Terry Benedict. He would make a cameo As Himself in Twelve.
• The Cast Showoff:
  • The filmmakers were looking for someone with specific acrobatic skills to play the part of Yen. They discovered Shaobo Qin performing with the troupe in Las Vegas. He had never acted before.
  • Vincent Cassel is a fantastic Capoeira practitioner. So is his character, François Toulour.
  • Andy García composed the piano piece Benedict plays in Twelve.
• Cast the Expert: Yen is an acrobat and contortionist, just like his actor Shaobo Qin.
• Completely Different Title:
  • In Russia, the film became "Eleven friends of Ocean's" (even though there are ten people in the crew besides Ocean). Ditto for the sequels, even though not everyone in the list can be accurately called a friend of Ocean's.
  • It became La gran estafa ("The big scam") in Latin America. The same goes with their sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen in Latin América, named respectively La nueva gran estafa ("The new big scam") and Ahora son 13 ("They are now 13").
  • In Brazil, the film became "Onze Homens e um Segredo" (Eleven Men and a Secret), the sequels became "Doze Homens e Outro Segredo" (Twelve Men and Another Secret) and "Treze Homens e um Novo Segredo" (Thirteen Men and a New Secret), and the Soft Reboot became "Oito Mulheres e um Segredo" (Eight Women and a Secret).
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Steven Soderbergh named Ocean's Twelve as his favourite in the trilogy.
• Dawson Casting: A possible example with Linus. His exact age is never stated, but he's clearly meant to be quite a bit younger than 30, which was Matt Damon's age at the time the first film was released.
• Deleted Role:
  • Ellen Barkin, who would play Abigail Sponder in Thirteen, actually shot a small cameo for Twelve. It was ultimately cut. It can however be seen on the Blu-ray release (under the additional footage section, the "Meet the Team, Again" sequence).
  • Peter Fonda filmed a cameo as Bobby Caldwell for Twelve that got cut. The role was recast with Bob Einstein for Thirteen.
• Distanced from Current Events: Originally, the hotel demolished by Benedict was going to be the New York, New York. However, this was quickly changed to the fictional Xanadu hotel shortly before the theatrical release due to the 9/11 attacks.
• Doing It for the Art: The entire cast worked for less than their usual salaries to bring down the budget.
• Dolled-Up Installment: The story of Twelve was taken from Honor Among Thieves, a screenplay treatment written by George Nolfi that was originally intended to be a John Woo vehicle. When it was decided that Ocean's Eleven was going to have a sequel, Warner Bros.. asked Nolfi to rewrite the script, adjusting it for the Ocean's Eleven characters. The role of the protagonist was split between Danny (master thief), Rusty (relationship with Europol agent), and (to a certain extent) Linus.
• Dueling-Stars Movie: In both the original Rat Pack and modern versions.
• DVD Commentary: On the director and writer track for Ocean's Eleven, they comment a few times on the fact that there are probably only three people who bother to listen to these things.
• Fake Brit: American Don Cheadle plays Basher Tarr with poor-Cockney abandon, complete with jokes about its incomprehensible rhyming slang.
  Basher: So unless we intend to do this job in Reno, we're in barney. (everyone looks confused) Barney Rubble. (still confused) Trouble!
• Hide Your Pregnancy: Julia Roberts was pregnant during production of Twelve so Tess wears a a lot of loose shirts and baggy coats until she has to pose as "Julia Roberts" with a Pillow Pregnancy (which is actually just Julia's real belly).
• Hostility on the Set: By all accounts, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones were so hostile on the set of Twelve that they eventually had to be kept completely separate, never even being on the set at the same time. It's perhaps and why neither actress returned for Thirteen.
• Missing Trailer Scene: There is a scene in the trailer in which Danny asks the parole-board members how much they earn a year. This was cut from the movie because the director talked to some actual parole-board members and they all agreed that if a prospective parolee were to make that comment, he'd be denied parole.
• Multiple Languages, Same Voice Actor: Vincent Cassel provided his own voiceover for the French dub.
• No Stunt Double: In Ocean's Twelve, François Toulour (Vincent Cassel) practices a form of Capoeira to dodge the lasers in the museum's Laser Hallway. Cassel is a Capoeira practitioner and did the stunts himself.
• One for the Money; One for the Art: Steven Soderbergh agreed to the movies in exchange for smaller projects to get greenlit.
• Prop Recycling: The wig Rusty uses while posing as a doctor in Eleven is the same one that was used by Mike Myers during his rehearsals of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.
• Real-Life Relative: Writer Ted Griffin's father can be seen standing behind Reuben during the boxing match scene.
• Reality Subtext: In Twelve, Linus asks Rusty if he can if he can play a bigger part in the con. Matt Damon initially declined to return because he felt his part was too small. He changed his mind, but having just got off The Bourne Supremacy, he asked for his role to be reduced, but his request was denied.
• Remake Cameo: Angie Dickinson makes a cameo, as she did in the original.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: After the heist, the crew was originally supposed to peel away from each other as they walk down the street. Steven Soderbergh couldn't figure out the right way to stage it and at one point he walked over to the fountain railing and stared at the water while trying to figure out what to do. Then he got the idea to change the scene to a fountain.
• Throw It In!:
  • Don Cheadle covering his "special place" and turning it away as he sets off the EMP.
  • The fountain scene at the end was partly improvised. Steven Soderbergh wanted Brad Pitt to leave first, and Carl Reiner to leave last. The other actors were instructed to line up and leave whenever it felt natural.
  • Casey Affleck and Scott Caan improvised some of their lines in the movie.
  • Bernie Mac improvised some of his lines, including "You want me to get on the table and dance?"
  • Catherine Zeta-Jones falling at the very end of Twelve was unscripted.
• Uncredited Role:
  • Despite having a major role, Don Cheadle is uncredited in Eleven. This was due to a dispute over his billing. He wanted an above-title billing alongside George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Brad Pitt. When he was denied, he refused to be credited at all. He received above-title billing in the sequels, however.
  • Albert Finney as Gaspar LeMarc in Twelve.
• Vacation, Dear Boy: Most of the cast admits they did Twelve just to have a nice overseas vacation. Specifically, they just wanted to get paid to party at George Clooney's villa. Brad Pitt said he thought it was funny that Catherine Zeta-Jones "thought we were making a movie."
• What Could Have Been:
  • Brett Ratner was to direct at one point.
  • Steven Soderbergh originally wanted to make the entire film black and white, but changed his mind when the studio warned they would cut the film's budget if he did so.
  • Jon Favreau was initially offered to write the screenplay for the film but he turned it down.
  • Mark Wahlberg was originally offered the role of Linus but opted to do Planet of the Apes (2001) instead. Johnny Depp was also offered the role but turned it down.
  • Luke and Owen Wilson were originally considered for the roles of Virgil and Turk, Danny Glover was originally going to play Frank, and Bill Murray was supposed to make a cameo as a lounge singer, but they were all busy with The Royal Tenenbaums. The Coen Brothers were also considered.
  • The Coen Brothers were considered to play the Molloy twins, but they declined.
  • Ewan McGregor was originally considered for the role of Basher, but he was busy with Black Hawk Down. Lennie James and Mike Myers were also considered.
  • Sydney Pollack, Don Rickles and Dennis Franz were originally considered for the role of Reuben. Alan Arkin was originally cast, but had to drop out due to a family crisis.
  • Warren Beatty, Michael Douglas, and Ralph Fiennes were each originally considered for the role of Benedict.
  • Jet Li was considered for The Amazing Yen.
  • The scene where Danny calls his parole officer was originally supposed to be in a crowded deli. However, the assistant director went outside and saw a great shot that included the Trump Plaza sign.
  • In his first scene, Rusty is actually facing a large mural of Frank Sinatra. In an attempt to distance the movie from the original 1960 version, however, the director decided not to show the mural.
  • Ricky Gervais turned down the role of Basher's engineer in Twelve, saying, "Why say a couple of lines opposite Brad Pitt when I could be playing leads back home?"
  • The original ending for Soderbegh's Eleven had Tess rejecting Danny even after the heist, but was changed for a more upbeat ending, as well as Benedict's manager realizing how the heist happened, but was switched to Benedict to portray the character sharper.
  • In the rough working draft of Twelve, Clint Eastwood was penciled in for a cameo appearance to play the role of Bobby Caldwell.
  • The original script for Thirteen contained scenes with Tess and Isabel. However, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones didn't want to participate in the movie without a significant part in the plot, which the script could not accommodate. This is referenced early in the movie when Ocean mentions it's 'not their fight' when questioned as to their absence by others in the group.
  • Topher Grace was unable to return for Thirteen due to reshoots on Spider-Man 3: he recalls that his planned cameo would have involved him having a conversation with Rusty while holding an Asian baby and never addressing where the baby came from.
  • Peter Fonda, who had appeared in a deleted scene in Twelve, was slated to reprise his role as Bobby in Thirteen, but his work on Ghost Rider (2007) prevented him from doing so.
• Word of Saint Paul: According to Andy García, Benedict has a cane in Twelve because in his anger he kicked something so hard he hurt his foot.
• Write Who You Know: Screenwriter Ted Griffin based Virgil and Turk's constant bickering on fights he had with his own brother when they were younger.
• Written-In Infirmity: Julia Roberts was pregnant during the filming of Twelve, so the script was tweaked to have Tess impersonate a pregnant Robert.

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