Trivia / The Grifters

• Doing It for the Art: Anjelica Huston and John Cusack accepted much less than their usual fees just to be in this movie.
• Promoted Fanboy: John Cusack was a big fan of the book, and tried to option the rights when he was still in high school.
• Star-Making Role: For Annette Bening, who was just two years removed from her feature film debut (in The Great Outdoors) and received her first Oscar nomination.
• Those Two Actors: Jeremy Piven and Gregory Sporleder (who play two of the sailors Roy cons in the dice game on the train) also both appeared with Cusack in Say Anything....
• What Could Have Been:
  • The studio wanted Martin Scorsese to direct the film himself, but he personally chose Stephen Frears to do the job, while Scorsese stayed on as Producer.
  • Sissy Spacek met with Stephen Frears to discuss the part of Lilly. Cher and Geena Davis also turned it down, while Lily Tomlin was considered.
  • Melanie Griffith and Michelle Pfeiffer were considered for Myra.
  • John Cusack beat out Robert Downey Jr. for the role of Roy.
  • John Ireland auditioned for the role of Bobo Justus.

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