Ability over Appearance: Dick Ritchie was originally written as an African-American in the script.
Actor-Inspired Element: It was Brad Pitt's idea for his character to be a stoner who never leaves the couch. He also improvised much of his dialogue. The hat he wears in the kitchen sequence he found abandoned on the boardwalk in Venice, California. He took it, washed it, and wore it for the film.
Approval of God: Quentin Tarantino absolutely loved the final film, up to providing commentary on the DVD release, and was even on board with major changes, such as the decision to spare Clarence and Alabama when Tarantino's ending killed them off, after being won over by Tony Scott claiming it wasn't an executive demand but rather simply because he'd grown too attached to the characters to have them die at the end.
Awesome, Dear Boy: Gary Oldman met with Tony Scott about the project and told him he hadn't read the script he'd been sent, then asked Scott what his part was like. Scott told him "You're playing a white guy who thinks he's black, and you're a pimp." Oldman immediately accepted the role. Oldman loved his role so much that he was interested in doing a spin-off film about him.
Brad Pitt and Val Kilmer were both considered for Clarence. They were cast as Floyd and Elvis.
Tom Sizemore was originally cast as Virgil before eventually assuming the role of Cody Nicholson. Sizemore recommended James Gandolfini for the role of Virgil.
Michael Rapaport was originally cast in the role of Marvin. But the casting director later thought Rapaport was right for the role of Dick Ritchie.
Deleted Role: Jack Black appears in a scene as a movie theatre usher that was cut from both the theatrical and director's cuts. Director Tony Scott later regretted cutting the scene.
Deleted Scene: The following scenes were cut from the film (but restored on the DVD):
An extended sequence at the Sonny Chiba movie. Jack Black appears as a theater attendant shooing everyone out after the movie is over.
An extended scene where Clarence shows Alabama his store.
A bathtub scene with Clarence and Alabama, in which they discuss Janis Joplin. Patricia Arquette does nudity in this scene. A piece of this scene appears in the theatrical trailer.
The billboard scene (where Alabama comes clean) is slightly extended. Clarence proposes marriage to Alabama, and she accepts.
The "do you eat pussy" scene is slightly extended with more dialogue, especially from Big Don.
A car scene with Clarence, Alabama, and Dick in which Alabama explains how she got her name.
The scene in which Clarence first shows Dick the cocaine is slightly extended with more dialogue.
A scene featuring Vincenzo in an elevator with his bodyguards. They talk about drug related matters and then walk down a hallway threatening to get Clarence and Alabama. The latter portion of this scene appears in the theatrical trailer.
Extended scene where Elliot prepares to be "wired".
An extended sequence of Alabama, Clarence, and Dick preparing to enter Lee's loft to sell the cocaine. They contemplate whether they should do it or not.
A brief scene in which Elliot is "motivating" himself to enter wearing the wire.
Executive Meddling: The original ending had Clarence dying and Alabama driving off alone with a bitter monologue, but Tony Scott changed it because he liked the characters too much to end on such a down note. Quentin Tarantino had originally intended for the widowed Alabama to go into a life of crime. She gets mentioned in Reservoir Dogs as a former partner of Mr. White.
Missing Trailer Scene: The trailer showed the bath scene and a scene of Vincenzo in an elevator, both of which were cut from the film.
On-Set Injury: Dennis Hopper was concerned about being shot with a prop gun so close against his head for fear of being burned by the barrel. Tony Scott assured him the gun was one hundred percent safe, and even tested it by having the prop man fire it against his own forehead. But upon firing the prop gun, the barrel extended about a third of an inch and Scott ended up on the floor with blood pouring from the wound.
Spared by the Cut: The original ending was to have both Clarence and Alabama die but Tony Scott had grown to like them too much to go through with it and so changed it to give them a happy ending. Tarantino was initially opposed to it but eventually came around.
Bronson Pinchot ad-libbed the scene where his character is caught with the cocaine.
Dennis Hopper improvised the line "'Cause you... you're part... eggplant!" Christopher Walken apparently didn't realize that "eggplant" is an old Italian-American slur for black people, so he retorts, "And you're a cantaloupe!" which is meaningless except to call him another edible fruit. Also, Walken improvised busting a gut laughing and saying "I love this guy!" while Hopper spins the "Sicilians" yarn.
The character of Blue Lou Boyle was originally a speaking part (with Robert De Niro as the definite favorite), but many cuts were made to Quentin Tarantino's script, including a scene featuring him. Instead, he's briefly mentioned as Vincent Coccotti's superior.
The roller coaster scene was originally written to have taken place in a zoo. Tony Scott changed it to give the movie an "adrenaline rush".
In the original script Floyd D. calls Drexl a "white boy". That's why Drexl kills him and Big Don. In the original script Marty wasn't around when Drexl kills them.
The role of Clarence Worley was written with Robert Carradine in mind.
The genesis of the film began with a 50-page script by Roger Avary entitled The Open Road. Avary described the plot as being about "an odd couple relationship between an uptight business man and an out-of-control hitch-hiker who travel into a hellish mid-Western town together." When he had trouble finishing it, he asked his friend and fellow Video Archives clerk, Quentin Tarantino, to give it a shot. After several weeks, Quentin handed him over 500 hand-written pages of, what Avary described as "the Bible of pop culture." Roger typed and edited the behemoth, working with Quentin on further story ideas. According to a Film Threat article from 1994, the final script was a combination of True Romance and Natural Born Killers. Reportedly, it followed Quentin's original NBK script until after the prison riot. After escaping, Mickey and Mallory decide to find and kill the screenwriter who wrote the glitzy Hollywood movie about their exploits. The writer goes on the run, and True Romance was the movie he writes while trying to evade the two psychotic killers. It was told in trademark Tarantino chapter fashion, out of chronological order. When it became obvious that the miniseries-length script would never sell, they split the two stories into separate movies.
The song "You're So Cool" from this movie's soundtrack was used in the commercial for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. In June 2008, almost four years after the game was released, Morgan Creek filed a lawsuit against Nintendo for allegedly not getting permission to use the song. Nintendo was able to prove they had gotten permission to use it, and the case was dropped.
