The Usual Suspects/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Actor Allusion: When Sgt. Jeff Rabin (Dan Hedaya) first refers to Verbal Kint to Dave Kujan, he says, "This guy must be protected on high by The Prince of Darkness." In a segment of an episode of 1980s The Twilight Zone, "Dealer's Choice," a group of friends are playing cards and Hedaya's character is revealed to be the Devil.
  • Fake Nationality: According to Del Toro, he is playing a "Black Chinese Puerto Rican Jew".
    • According to Singer's and McQuarrie's DVD commentary, Kobayashi is supposed to be Pakistani with a Japanese name.
  • Name's the Same: Almost: FBI agent Jack Bayer.
  • Star-Making Role: For Kevin Spacey and Benicio Del Toro.
  • Throw It In:
    • The famous line-up scene was originally scripted as serious. The day prior to filming the scene was a long, tense day of filming in a prison. Singer decided to take the cast to lunch the next day, the day of the line-up scene, to lighten the mood. The lunch turned into a "lovefest" according to Bryan Singer, with all the actors becoming giddy. The giddyness carried over into the scene in that they couldn't stop laughing and making jokes. Singer was originally frustrated, but then liked the takes so much and the idea that it shows them bonding in-story, he threw the funniest ones into the film.
    • Actors were directed to ask Benicio del Toro to repeat himself if his line readings were ever unintelligible. At least two of these ad-libs were included in the final cut.
    • When Redfoot (Peter Greene) flicks his cigarette at McManus (Stephen Baldwin), the actor was aiming at chest level, but the lit cigarette ended up hitting Stephen Baldwin in the forehead. Both the cigarette's impact and Stephen Baldwin's justifiably angry reaction remain in the final cut of the film.
  • What Could Have Been: Al Pacino since laments that the role of Kujan is the part he regrets turning down the most.