Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums is the quintessential dysfunctional family story. With an incredible cast headlined by Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, and Gwyneth Paltrow, Anderson told the tale of a family of child prodigies who grew up to be fractured and estranged, and ultimately came back together amid a series of tragedies.
This movie just might represent the height of Anderson’s powers — although The Grand Budapest Hotel was also a classically Andersonian masterpiece — as his quirky sense of humor, literary structural style, and symmetrical composition are all on point. Here are 10 fascinating details from the making of The Royal Tenenbaums.
Three Cast Turned Down Roles In Ocean’s Eleven To Be In This Movie
Danny Glover, Owen Wilson (who co-wrote the script for The Royal Tenenbaums with director Wes Anderson), and Luke Wilson all turned down roles in Ocean’s Eleven to be in this movie. Gene Wilder was offered the role of Royal Tenenbaum, but turned it down, because he was retired.
Warren Beatty and Michael Caine were also considered for Royal before Gene Hackman took the part. Both Hackman and Anjelica Huston held off on accepting their parts until Anderson wrote them some extra scenes to deepen their characters.
Wes Anderson And Gene Hackman Butted Heads On The Set
There are all kinds of reports about Wes Anderson and Gene Hackman’s on-set disagreements during the making of The Royal Tenenbaums. Hackman apparently stipulated in his contract that the vibe on set had to be fun, and he didn’t feel that Anderson kept his promise, so he grew irate during a lot of shoot days.
Some other cast — including Anjelica Huston and Bill Murray — had to keep an eye on Hackman and step in to defend Anderson whenever Hackman flew off the handle. Murray even came in on his day off to protect Anderson from Hackman, because he was one of the only cast (along with Huston) with no patience for Hackman’s behavior.
The Hand With A BB Lodged In It Belongs To Owen And Luke Wilson’s Brother
The hand that can be seen with a BB bullet lodged between two of its knuckles does not actually belong to Ben Stiller. It’s the hand of Andrew Wilson, the brother of The Royal Tenenbaums cast Owen and Luke Wilson.
Owen Wilson shot a BB gun at his brother’s hand when they were kids, and the BB has been stuck there ever since.
A Birthday Cake Set Anjelica Huston’s Hair On Fire
In the opening scenes, we see a birthday party being thrown for young Margot, with candles on a cake. One of those candles lit Anjelica Huston’s hair on fire during filming.
Wes Anderson has given actor Kumar Pallana credit for putting out the fire before Huston sustained a serious injury from it. Pallana had previously appeared in Anderson’s films Bottle Rocket and Rushmore, and later played a small role in The Darjeeling Limited.
The Dalmatian Mice’s Spots Were Drawn On By Sharpie
According to Wes Anderson, the dalmatian mice that appear in the film and fill the house were just regular mice with spots applied by a Sharpie. The Royal Tenenbaums still got the “No animals were harmed...” mark from the American Humane Association.
Gwyneth Paltrow And Ben Stiller Were Only Available For A Portion Of The Shoot
When Gene Hackman signed on to star in The Royal Tenenbaums, it became a lot easier for Wes Anderson to attract top-shelf A-list talent to round out his ensemble cast.
However, two of the movie’s biggest stars, Ben Stiller and Gwyneth Paltrow, were only available for a portion of the shoot, as they had other commitments to get to, so the whole production schedule had to be worked around when they were free to film their scenes.
The Hawk Playing Mordecai Was Kidnapped During Filming
The hawk that was being used to play Mordecai in this movie was kidnapped in the middle of shooting. The kidnapper demanded a ransom before returning the bird, but the producers didn’t have time to wait for the hostage situation to work itself out before continuing production, so they decided to use a different bird. Mordecai has more white feathers later in the film, because it was a completely different bird.
The scene in which Richie punches the glass in Mordecai’s pen was improvised on the fly by Luke Wilson. There’s a quick cut to closeups of Richie and Raleigh talking, because Wes Anderson promptly called “cut” after the ad-libbed punch to make sure Wilson wasn’t really hurt.
Etheline Tenenbaum Was Based On Wes Anderson’s Own Mother
Wes Anderson loosely based the character of Etheline Tenenbaum on his own mother, Ann Burroughs. After her divorce from Anderson’s father, Burroughs became an archaeologist.
In fact, the glasses that Etheline can be seen wearing in The Royal Tenenbaums were the actual glasses that belong to Burroughs.
Gene Hackman Was Reluctant To Star In The Film
Although Wes Anderson had written the character of Royal Tenenbaum specifically for Gene Hackman, the actor was reluctant to accept the part. The script made him realize that he had been cold and insensitive towards his own family in the past, much like Royal Tenenbaum, and he worried that his family would be uncomfortable with him playing that character.
Before taking the role, Hackman checked with his family that they would be okay with him playing the part, and they all agreed that he should take it.
Wes Anderson’s Parents’ Divorce Formed The Basis Of The Script
The initial seed from which the story grew was Wes Anderson’s parents’ divorce. However, as the story developed during the writing process, the final draft ended up bearing very little resemblance to the real events.
Jean-Pierre Melville’s seminal film Les Enfants Terribles was a big influence on how Anderson depicted Richie and Margot’s relationship. He’d always been interested in the taboo surrounding incest, and had a childhood friend who was in love with his sister. In the original drafts, Margot was a biological Tenenbaum, but Anderson felt that the story became more realistic when Margot was recharacterized as adopted.
