Birthdays . . . Being John

Happy Birthday, John Malkovich!

I wasn’t surprised that John Malkovich agreed to star in this great film ( a personal favourite and have it on DVD and watch it frequently! ) but seems it was more of a challenge than we might have expected!

I think for all the world so much better of him for having the sheer chutzpah to do it . . . .that he did speaks volumes about his humour, creative courage and sheer bottle! Can you imagine reading the script! He must have had a fit . . . of laughing if nothing else! GENIUS!

Charlie Kaufman had no backup actors in mind to play themselves in the title role of "Being John Malkovich" (1999) if  Malkovich couldn't appear in the film, and every time somebody offered to produce the film on the condition that a different actor be used, Kaufman adamantly refused--even when Malkovich himself made the offer.

Malkovich was approached about this film several times and loved the script, but he and his production crew felt that another actor would fit the role better. Malkovich offered to help produce the film, and aid director Spike Jonze in any way, but refused to star in it. Eventually after a couple of years, Malkovich's will was worn down and he agreed to star in the film. 

Producers Michael Stipe (of REM fame) and Sandy Stern pitched the film to numerous studios, including New Line Cinema, who dropped the project after chairman Robert Shaye asked: "Why the f**k can't it be 'Being Tom Cruise'?" Jonze recalled that Malkovich asked the same question, and that Malkovich had felt that "Either the movie's a bomb and it's got not only my name above the title but my name in the title, so I'm f**ed that way; or it does well and I'm just forever associated with this character." Jonze explained in the same interview that he had not realized how brave Malkovich's performance was.  

In a radio interview, Kaufman explained that while pitching Malkovich's representatives the story, Kaufman was informed by them that, much to his surprise, Malkovich lived at the time in a Manhattan apartment numbered 7-1/2. Kaufman said that the representatives gave the impression of "feeling him out" and were worried he was a stalker. 

Malkovich claimed that he approached the character of "John Malkovich" as he would any other fictional role, and that the only thing about his real-life that was reflected in the film is his wardrobe. (IMDb)