Behind-The-Scenes Stories From The Making Of 'Se7en'
- Photo: New Line Cinema1111 VOTES
Leland Orser Stayed Up For Two Whole Days Before Filming His Big Scene
Actor Leland Orser is credited in Se7en as "Crazed Man in Massage Parlor." It was a relatively early role for the man who would go on to become a reliable and prolific character actor. He plays the guy who unwillingly commits the "Lust" slaying. To get himself in the right mindset and convey the character's distraught and traumatized state, Orser decided to stay up the night before shooting his big scene.
There was just one problem. As Orser explained in a Reddit AMA:
My scene was scheduled to shoot on a Monday morning, and on Monday morning, after I'd stayed up the whole night before, I got a call from my agent saying that my scene had been pushed until the next day. So the big question was 'Do I stay up all night Monday night, and do I sleep and screw up my whole process if I do?' So I decided to stay up all night Monday night as well. So I was so stressed, and not hungry, so I was in quite a messed up state of mind when I arrived Tuesday morning. They said I was first up Tuesday morning, and then they came into my trailer and said, 'Your scene has been pushed until the end of the day,' so it was quite torturous, but it all served the intensity of the scene at the end.
- Photo: New Line Cinema2109 VOTES
John C. McGinley's Reaction To "Sloth" Was Totally Real
Of all the shocks in Se7en, the "Sloth" one is arguably the most potent. Mills and Somerset enter a bedroom where they find an emaciated body. The victim, according to photos found nearby, has been strapped to the bed for about a year. As SWAT team leader California (played by John C. McGinley) leans in, the body abruptly coughs, revealing that the man is actually still alive. California jumps backward in shocked surprise.
Actor Michael Reid Mackay plays the "Sloth" victim, and he was fitted with prosthetics and makeup for the scene, a process which took up to 14 hours. According to him, the sequence was shot multiple times, but the first take - in which he legitimately startled McGinley, who didn't know what was coming - is the one used in the movie.
- Photo: New Line Cinema390 VOTES
John Doe's Notebooks Horrified Kinko's Employees
No one who has seen Se7en could forget the hideous images that fill up John Doe's notebooks. Of course, when the audience sees them, we know they're part of a movie about a serial slayer. The folks at a local Kinko's copy shop, who weren't aware of their intended purpose, got a genuine shock from the imagery on display in Doe's elaborate diaries.
After gathering all the disturbing photos and endless notes, the art department took them to a Kinko's to have them copied onto special pieces of plastic so that overlays could be placed on top of them. Employees there didn't know the gruesome pictures were meant for a major motion picture and were completely horrified by what they saw.
- Photo: New Line Cinema474 VOTES
The Studio Accidentally Sent David Fincher The Wrong Script
Se7en would not be quite the harrowing movie it became had a silly slip-up not occurred. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation director Jeremiah Chechik was originally slated to direct the film. He requested screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker eliminate the now-famous "head in a box" ending.
When Chechik ended up departing the production, David Fincher was courted as a potential replacement. New Line Cinema accidentally sent him Walker's original draft. Upon realizing their mistake, they then sent the softened version Chechik had ordered. Fincher replied that he had no interest in making that version of the screenplay, but he would definitely be interested in making the version with the shocking finale.
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Brad Pitt Insisted On The Uncompromising Ending
Studios have a long history of softening edgy movies because they fear audiences will reject anything too unpleasant or challenging. Given that Se7en is continually disturbing, Brad Pitt knew that was a real possibility before he even signed on. He consequently told the studio he would only agree to make the movie if the climactic scene in which Mills is given his wife's head in a box was contractually required to remain in the film.
A similar problem reared its head when the movie was finished. The studio felt it would be more "heroic" if Mills didn't dispatch John Doe in retaliation, thereby giving him a win, and suggested ending it a tiny bit sooner. Again, Pitt pulled the star card, reminding studio executives that it was in his contract for this moment to remain in the film as well.
- Photo: New Line Cinema653 VOTES
Andrew Kevin Walker Mailed His Unsolicited Screenplay To A Noted Screenwriter On A Whim
Most aspiring screenwriters get an agent to represent their work, with the hope of making a sale and getting a film made. Se7en screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker took a different approach.
Despite having exactly zero credits to his name, he sent a copy of his script to David Koepp - the guy who adapted Jurassic Park and co-wrote Death Becomes Her - on a whim, totally unsolicited. That was gutsy enough. What he did next was even gutsier. Walker cold-called Koepp and asked him to give the script to an agent.
Koepp was impressed with what he read and subsequently gave the screenplay to his agent, who represented it around Hollywood.
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The Actor Behind The "Greed" Victim Demanded More Money To Disrobe
Gene Borkan plays the "Greed" victim, who is forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh. The actor was excited about the role until he found out it required him to strip down to his underwear and be covered in fake blood. Disrobing wasn't quite what he signed up for, so he demanded more money on the spot - and got it.
Borkan told Entertainment Weekly, "When I found out what was happening, right there and then I renegotiated. I got five times [the $522 SAG day-scale fee]."
- Photo: New Line Cinema875 VOTES
The Original Ending Was Even Bleaker
It's hard to believe that the ending to Se7en could have been even bleaker than it already is, but it nearly was. The version screened for test audiences ended just as Mills shoots John Doe, followed by 10 seconds of black screen and silence. Fincher wanted that moment to resonate uncomfortably with viewers, and to also cue them that the movie was over.
During that test screening, however, the projectionist threw the house lights on immediately, meaning the audience didn't get those 10 seconds to fully digest the implications of what they'd just seen. That led them to overwhelmingly reject the ending on their post-screening comment cards. At the studio's request, Fincher added a short coda to the movie that eliminated the abruptness of the conclusion, giving viewers a minute to breathe as Somerset quotes Ernest Hemingway.
- Photo: New Line Cinema962 VOTES
Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker Had A Brief Cameo And A Panic Attack
Aside from having written the screenplay for Se7en, Andrew Kevin Walker has a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo role. He plays the very first corpse discovered by Detective Somerset, lying in a pool of blood and wearing underpants.
Although he said he loved doing the scene, it also caused him to panic, literally. Walker told Uproxx,
The funny thing about playing the corpse in Se7en, which wasn’t very funny at the time, was I had kind of quit smoking around that time, so I was vibrating on a certain unusual frequency for myself and when I laid down, they had rebuilt some of the set to reshoot this insert of the body, me, laying there. I knew they had gone through the expense to rebuild this corner of the set, they had me lay down and poured all this cold blood around me, and the minute I laid down and they put the blood on, I knew that I couldn’t move. So I had a massive panic attack that I managed to breathe myself out of and calm myself, but it was just one of those situations where I was like, 'If I stand up I’m going to ruin this for everyone. I can’t stand up. Oh, I absolutely have to stand up.' Luckily, they did it pretty quickly and I managed to maintain laying still.
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Guillermo Del Toro Turned Down The Chance To Direct
New Line Cinema and Se7en's producers were looking for a visionary young filmmaker to bring their project to the screen. One of the directors they made an offer to was eventual Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro who, at that point, had created positive buzz with his debut feature, the vampire chiller Cronos. He seemed to have the dark sensibility that the story required.
Or so they thought. The filmmaker disagreed, despite loving the script. "I rightfully said no to Se7en, because it was a great script but it was a very cynical view of the world," he said. "And I loved it, I wanted to see it, but I’m a romantic, fat b*stard and I don’t subscribe to that view.”
- Photo: Zodiac / Paramount Pictures1150 VOTES
David Fincher Applied Fake Blood Himself
David Fincher is a hands-on director in the truest sense of the phrase. His attention to every detail, no matter how minor, is part of what makes him such a compelling filmmaker. According to Heidi Schanz, who plays the "Pride" victim, he even went so far as to personally apply fake blood to her.
Schanz told Entertainment Weekly:
My nose was taped to one side, and then my face was wrapped with gauze. I was in a negligee in bed, doused with blood [by Fincher]... I said, ‘David, you’re enjoying this way too much,’ and he said, ‘I have demons you can’t even imagine.'
Meanwhile, Cat Mueller, who played the "Lust" victim, also told EW that Fincher "tied me to the bed, gagged me, and poured refrigerated blood on me."
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It Almost Starred Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, Christina Applegate, And Michael Stipe
Denzel Washington was initially offered the part of Detective Mills. He turned it down, believing the material was too dark and downbeat. After seeing the finished film, he regretted his decision.
The part of Detective Somerset, meanwhile, nearly went to acting legend Al Pacino. He ended up passing in favor of playing the mayor in City Hall, a mostly forgotten drama. The role of Mills's wife Tracy went through changes, too. Gwyneth Paltrow was offered it. When she turned it down, the filmmakers sought out Christina Applegate. She also turned it down, so they approached Paltrow again, and this time she said yes.
As for psychopath John Doe, he was nearly played by R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe. Of course, Kevin Spacey ended up taking the part.
- Photo: New Line Cinema1362 VOTES
Brad Pitt's Injury Was Worked Into The Movie's Plot
What do you do when one of your big stars seriously hurts himself on the set of your movie? Work the injury into the story, of course. That's what happened with Pitt, who slipped on a wet car hood while filming a chase scene, putting his arm through the windshield. The accident severed a tendon in his hand, requiring several stitches.
This set off a panic, as shutting down production while he healed would have been costly. Scenes taking place before the one in which Pitt got hurt had not yet been filmed, so, for continuity reasons, it was decided to alter the script so that Mills breaks his arm after a scuffle with Doe and for pre-scuffle scenes, Pitt's hurt arm was hidden off-camera. This allowed Pitt to wear a cast and continue filming.
- Photo: Solace / Lionsgate1431 VOTES
It Very Nearly Had A Sequel
Because it was a big hit at the box office, New Line Cinema desperately wanted a sequel to Se7en. That the story didn't really lend itself to a follow-up didn't matter. They got their hands on an original script by Ted Griffin called Solace, about a former doctor with psychic abilities who is on the hunt for a slayer, then had it rewritten for Morgan Freeman's character Detective Somerset.
Plans for Se7en 2, which was tentatively known as Ei8ht, were ultimately scrapped. Neither Freeman nor Fincher was interested in making a franchise out of the original film. In 2015, Solace was actually made, with Anthony Hopkins in the lead role.
