When it was first released in 1999, Fight Club underperformed at the box office and stirred up huge controversy. However, this controversy worked in the movie’s favor in terms of its longevity, as it made it a staple of rebellious youth culture and ensured that it would go on to become one of the most popular cult classics of the ‘90s.
David Fincher directed the movie, based on Chuck Palahniuk’s acclaimed novel of the same name, and as with any of Fincher’s movies, there are some fascinating stories from its production. So, here are 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About Fight Club.
Edward Norton and Brad Pitt smoked a joint before Fight Club’s Venice premiere
This story was told by Edward Norton on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast a few weeks ago and then confirmed by Brad Pitt in an appearance on the same podcast a couple of episodes later. The pair were very confident that they’d starred in a great movie that would bring down the house during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. They were sitting up in a special seating area with the head of the festival for the screening.
For some reason, the two actors decided to smoke a joint before the screening. When the movie was on, it bombed with the audience at the festival. The room was silent, and only Norton and Pitt were laughing at the jokes. Midway through the film, the festival head walked out.
The Columbine massacre almost got a major scene removed
The studio tried to get David Fincher to cut the scene in which the Narrator’s boss finds a copy of the rules of Fight Club in the office photocopier. The Narrator tells his boss that whoever wrote them could be dangerous, and might one day come to work with a gun and shoot everybody. In the earliest test screenings of the movie, this scene got a great response, with the audience laughing and giving positive scores.
However, these screenings took place before the Columbine massacre. After Columbine, the studio pressured Fincher to cut the scene. Fincher refused because it leads to Marla’s significant breast cancer scene, so it couldn’t be removed.
Helena Bonham Carter told her makeup artist to apply her eye makeup with the wrong hand
During production on Fight Club, Helena Bonham Carter told her right-handed makeup artist, Julia Pearce, to apply her eye makeup with her left hand. Bonham Carter figured that Marla Singer wouldn’t bother too much with making sure her makeup looked perfect, and by applying it with the wrong hand, it would have a sort of slapdash appearance.
Bonham Carter really embodied the role of Marla. She and Brad Pitt reportedly had to spend three days in a recording studio, moaning into a microphone, in order to capture the orgasmic sounds for all of their off-screen sex scenes. That must have been an awkward three days.
Meat Loaf’s fat suit forced Bob to break one of Fight Club’s rules
One of the rules of Fight Club states that no one is allowed to wear shirts or shoes during a fight. However, in all of his fights, Bob can be seen wearing a shirt. This is because it would’ve been obvious that Meat Loaf was wearing a fat suit to play the character if he took his shirt off. A shirt was needed to cover it up.
This suit had to be filled with birdseed to ensure that his breasts and love handles would sag appropriately. All in all, with the birdseed inside it, the suit weighed a whopping 100 lbs.
Tyler Durden’s explosives recipe was intentionally inaccurate
In a pivotal scene in Fight Club, Tyler Durden explains how to make homemade explosives. In the novel, Tyler recites a real recipe for explosives. However, in the movie, his recipe for explosives is inaccurate. In the initial script, the recipe was real, but it was changed to prevent moviegoers from trying to make their own explosives at home.
It was thought that the movie would be seen by a lot more eyes than the book because it had a couple of major stars in it (and it was a movie, not a book), so Tyler’s explosives recipe was switched out for a fake one.
The studio head cut one of Marla Singer’s most graphic lines
In the original script, Marla Singer said, “I want to have your abortion,” during the sex scene. Laura Ziskin, the studio’s head of production, objected to the line and forced director David Fincher to cut it. Fincher agreed to remove the line, but only on the condition that she couldn’t cut the line he replaced it with.
Fincher’s new line, which appears in the final film, was, “I haven’t been f****d like that since grade school,” which Ziskin judged to be even worse than the original line. However, due to her deal with Fincher, she couldn’t have it taken out.
Matt Damon and Sean Penn were considered for the role of the Narrator
Matt Damon and Sean Penn were considered for the role of the Narrator, but Edward Norton was always David Fincher’s top choice for the part. The director had been impressed by Norton’s work in The People vs. Larry Flynt.
While Fight Club was going into production, Norton was also up for the lead role in three other projects: Man on the Moon, The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Runaway Jury. Norton was shortlisted alongside Jim Carrey for Man on the Moon, but the studio ultimately chose Carrey. Damon took the lead role in The Talented Mr. Ripley and Runaway Jury was put on hold, freeing up Norton to star in Fight Club.
The Narrator and Tyler Durden’s bar conversation was edited from 38 improvised takes
There was no script for the scene in which the Narrator and Tyler Durden talk at Lou’s Bar after the Narrator’s apartment has blown up. Instead, director David Fincher set up two cameras in front of Edward Norton and Brad Pitt and left them to improvise the whole thing.
Before each take, Fincher gave the two actors a vague idea of what he wanted to happen in the scene, and then let the cameras roll while they ad-libbed all of their dialogue. They shot 38 takes of the scene, and then Fincher and his editor James Haygood stitched the scene together from snippets of all these takes.
Reese Witherspoon turned down the role of Marla Singer
When Fight Club went into pre-production, Winona Ryder and Courtney Love were under consideration for the role of Marla Singer. However, as the casting process went on, the shortlist came down to Helena Bonham Carter and Reese Witherspoon. Director David Fincher always favored Bonham Carter, but the studio insisted on casting Witherspoon.
Lucky for Fincher, when the studio offered the role to Witherspoon, she turned it down for being too dark for her sensibility. So, Fincher was able to cast his top choice for the role. Bonham Carter claims she based her performance on the on-stage persona of Judy Garland.
Edward Norton actually hit Brad Pitt in the ear
In the scene in which the Narrator hits Tyler Durden in the ear, Edward Norton actually hit Brad Pitt in the ear. It was supposed to be a fake hit, but right before they shot the scene, director David Fincher took Norton to one side and told him to actually hit Pitt’s ear.
After the Narrator hits Tyler and Tyler is reacting in pain, the Narrator can be seen smiling and laughing, because Norton was amused by Pitt’s actual pain. Pitt apparently tried to stop his parents from watching Fight Club, but he couldn’t convince them not to watch it. However, they changed their minds after the scene with the chemical burn.
