Being There/Trivia


 * Banned in China: Because it was potentially offensive to, the original South African cut dropped the final scene.
 * Development Hell: It took a long time getting the rights from Kosinski (he wanted to make a film version on his own; he did co-write the film that was made), as well as getting financial backing.
 * Doing It for the Art: Beyond the effort he made to get the movie off the ground in the first place, Sellers gained weight to play Chance despite chronic and worsening heart problems -- and he hated how he looked this way -- solely because he thought Chance would be overweight given his sedentary lifestyle. He lost the weight as fast as he could after filming, which may or may not have been a contributing factor to his death.
 * Dyeing for Your Art: Half-averted -- Sellers let his gray hair show, unlike in most of his later films, but he did have it cut.
 * Playing Against Type: Sellers had such range that saying he had one type isn't accurate, but audiences knew him best as Large Ham Funny Foreigner Inspector Clouseau by 1979 due to the role dominating his career comeback. This much more serene character and story certainly was a change of pace.
 * What Could Have Been
 * Solely because of the "I like to watch" scene, Laurence Olivier turned down the role of Ben Rand, the role which Melvyn Douglas won a Supporting Actor Oscar for.
 * At one point in the mid-'70s, it was announced that Gore Vidal was going to write the screenplay.
 * The filming script's ending was significantly different than what was ultimately conceived and used.  This ending was shot, and a publicity still from the press kit was drawn from it, but the actual scene didn't surface until the 2009 Blu-Ray disc.