Say Anything Trivia (1989)
Producer James L. Brooks said the movie was inspired when Brooks saw a man walking with his daughter, and wondered what would happen if the father committed a crime.
During the iconic scene of Lloyd holding the boombox over his head, the actual song being played during the filming was reportedly "Turn the Other Way" by Fishbone. "In Your Eyes" was added in post-production.
"I gave her my heart, and she gave me a pen." was voted #73 of "The 100 Greatest Movie Lines" by Premiere in 2007.
John Cusack's kick boxing scenes in the ring, including the one where his nose is broken, are done with Don Wilson who is a real-life kick boxing champion.
Directorial debut of Cameron Crowe.
The woman who does the voice of Bobby Hill in "King of the Hill" (Pamela Segall) plays Corey and DC's friend. She is in the scene in Corey's room where Corey asks "If you were Diane Court would you like Lloyd Dobbler?"
During the movie, Ione Skye was dating Anthony Kiedis (lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers), which is why there is a Red Hot Chili Peppers song playing in the backround at one point in the movie.
The "strange victory dance" that Lloyd is doing after his date is something that the boxer "Sugar Ray" Leonard did after he won fights. He's blowing kisses to the crowd or something.
Stone Gossard, original guitarist for the rock band Pearl Jam makes a cameo in the beginning of the movie.
John Mahoney, who played Diane's father, was actually born in Blackpool, England, where his pregnant mother had been evacuated to escape Nazi bombing raids. However he moved to the US in his late teens, serving in the US army for 3 years, which he credited for gaining his authentic US accent. It was only in middle age that he became a professional actor, after actors John Malkovich and Gary Sinise invited him to join the new Steppenwolf Theatre Company. He passed away from cancer aged 77 in February 2018.
John and Joan Cusack have teamed up together for various rolls in the same movies throughout their career. Among them are: Class, 1983; Sixteen Candles, 1984; Say Anything, 1989; Grosse Pointe Blank, 1997; Cradle Will Rock, 1999; High Fidelity, 2000; and most recently, Martian Child, 2007.
Jeremy Piven (Cusack's childhood pal) played the drunk guy who "must chill" at the party and who raps at the Gas n' Sip. You see a glimpse of him in "The Grifters" (as a sailor who is fooled by John's money schemes), but he is known to play his best friend in John's other films such as "Grosse Pointe Blank" and "Serendipity." Piven's parents founded the Piven Theatre Company where John Cusack got his start in acting at a young age. Jeremy and John recently co-founded a Chicago-based experimental theatre company.
Chynna Phillips of Wilson-Phillips makes a cameo as Joe's girlfriend 'Mimi' at the party.
“Say Anything” was not particularly successful on its release. John Cusack was an established star of films like “The Sure Thing,” but co-star Ione Skye was basically unknown, and director Cameron Crowe was, despite his writing credit on “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” eight years earlier, not a known quantity. As such, despite rave reviews, it only took $20 million at the domestic box office, and a meagre $733,000 internationally — indeed, in many territories, like the U.K, it went straight to video.
1. The film was originally going to be directed by Lawrence Kasdan
As personal as the film clearly is, “Say Anything” was actually a gig-for-hire for Cameron Crowe. James L. Brooks had met the young writer while interviewing him about his time at Rolling Stone during the research proceess for “Broadcast News,” and had been impressed by the voice displayed in his script for 1984’s “Wild Life,” his mostly forgotten follow-up to “Fast Times At Ridgemont High.” Brooks hired Crowe to write a screenplay around an idea he’d had involving a girl who discovers her father is a criminal. The script evolved slowly over a four-year period, with Crowe adding Lloyd Dobler, who would eventually become the main character. Lawrence Kasdan, writer of “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” and director of “The Big Chill” and “Body Heat,” had been circling the project, but told Crowe, according to an interview at the time, “You are that main character. You should direct it.” And so he did.
2. Robert Downey Jr could have played Lloyd, Jennifer Connelly came close to being Diane.
John Cusack and Ione Skye make one of the great screen couples in the film, but as ever, it could have been very different. Crowe wrote the part for Cusack, but was concerned that the actor wouldn’t want to play a high school character again, so started to look elsewhere. Those who auditioned for the part included Loren Dean (who ended up playing the infamous Joe in the film), and future directors Todd Field (“Little Children“) and Peter Berg (“Battleship“), while Christian Slater and .... Kirk Cameron came close. Robert Downey Jr was actually offered the part, but turned it down, leading Crowe to finally approach Cusack, who loved the part, and signed on. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Shue apparently nailed her audition to play Diane, but Ione Skye narrowly beat out Shue and future Oscar-winner Jennifer Connelly to land the role. Lastly, while Julia Roberts, hot off “Mystic Pizza” was up to play the role of D.C, it was Amy Brooks who took the role.
4. Eric Stoltz worked as a production assistant on the movie.
One other familiar face who can be glimpsed in the movie is Eric Stoltz, who plays Vahlere. The actor was already well known, having been originally cast as Marty McFly in “Back To The Future,” and starred in “Mask” and “Some Kind Of Wonderful.” The actor and Crowe were friends, Stoltz having appeared in both “Fast Times At Ridgemont High” and “The Wild Life,” and he was actually on set for the whole shoot: the actor wanted to get experience behind the camera, and volunteered his services to Crowe. As such, he spent several weeks fetching coffees for the cast and crew, and is credited as a production assistant on the movie. It must have paid off: Stoltz is now an experienced TV director, with credits including “Californication,” “Private Practice” and eight episodes of “Glee.” His friendship with Crowe would continue with cameos in both “Singles” (as a mime) and “Jerry Maguire,” and he was meant to play David Bowie in “Almost Famous” before scheduling conflicts got in the way.
5. Crowe went through several possibilities for the song for the iconic boombox scene before landing on Peter Gabriel.
The film’s most iconic scene, endlessly copied (usually unsuccessfully, we imagine) by lovestruck teenagers, is when Lloyd wins Diane back with the aid of his boombox and Peter Gabriel‘s “In Your Eyes” (a song penned for Rosanna Arquette, as it turns out). But the track was a relatively last-minute addition. Crowe had scripted it to be Billy Idol’s “To Be A Lover,” and commissioned a number of bands to write possible themes. The Smithereens were one, and they turned in the track that would become their big hit, “A Girl Like You,” but Crowe felt that it stayed too close to the plot. When the time came to film the scene, Cusack was actually playing “Bonin’ In The Boneyard” by one of his favourite bands, Fishbone, but only because they knew they’d be dubbing over it. Eventually, Crowe rediscovered “In Your Eyes” on a tape he’d made for Nancy Wilson for their wedding, and approached Gabriel. The musician sent a note back saying he liked the film, although disapproved of the lead character’s drug overdose: a puzzled Crowe swiftly discovered that Gabriel had accidentally been sent a copy of John Belushi biopic “Wired” instead. It was put right, and the rest was movie-music history
