How the film "The Faculty" (1998) was filmed: footage from filming and interesting facts (13 photos)

Today I would like to remember the 1998 film “The Faculty”, directed by Robert Rodriguez. I really enjoyed this movie as a teenager and introduced me to actors like Elijah Wood and Josh Harnett.





1. The role of Delilah was originally written for actress Charisma Carpenter, but she eventually turned it down because she felt that the role was too similar to her role in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then the creators began to look for the most suitable options. Even Jessica Alba auditioned for this role, but in the end it went to actress Jordana Brewster.



Jordana Brewster and Robert Rodriguez

2. Actress Clea Duvall is a gay woman in real life. In the film, she plays a straight woman who pretends to be a fan of same-sex love so as not to communicate with anyone.



3. In the school toilet you can see the inscription on the wall "Titto and Tarantula". This is a reference to the film "From Dusk Till Dawn", which, like "The Faculty", was directed by Robert Rodriguez. In the movie "From Dusk Till Dawn" this band played in the bar.



By the way, be sure to read how the film “From Dusk Till Dawn” was filmed. There is a separate article on my channel.

4. Famke Jansen, who played the teacher Miss Elizabeth Burke, admitted in an interview that she had never watched this film in her life and had no plans to do so.



5. When Marybeth refused to take drugs, citing the fact that she was allergic, Delilah said: “And I’m Portuguese.” This line was not in the script. Actress Jordana Brewster blurted out this phrase just like that (improvisation). By the way, the actress herself actually speaks Portuguese.

6. In the film, rapper Usher played a minor role as schoolboy Gabe. During filming, he was not yet very well known, but after the film’s release his popularity began to gain momentum, so the creators decided to put him on the cover of the film, despite the fact that he is never the main character of the film.



This was done, of course, for advertising purposes in order to attract the rapper’s fans to watch. There was no Usher on the original poster.



Although, in general, I think it’s strange that they didn’t put Marybeth, played by Laura Harris, on any of the posters. When you look at the poster and when you watch the film, it immediately becomes clear that something is wrong with her.



7. Director Robert Rodriguez reserved a small role for his sister Tina. She played the tattooed girl at the beginning of the film, whom Marybeth asks where she needs to go. Well, of course, she played - this is a strong word, because the entire scene she sat rooted to the spot, just staring at one point.



Rodriguez also mentioned his friend Thomas Nix. When the names of students who are supposed to come to the medical office are announced around the school, we can hear the name of Thomas Nix.

8. Jon Stewart played Professor Edward Furlong. This is a reference to actor Edward Furlong, who played John Connor in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.



And in principle, this is not the only reference to the second “Terminator”. The role of the physical education teacher was played by actor Robert Patrick, who played the T-1000 robot in Terminator 2.

But this is not the most important thing. At the very beginning of the film, Robert runs after the headmistress in the T-1000 style. It's immediately clear that Rodriguez is a fan of the second Terminator.



9. Initially, they wanted to call the film “Tentacles,” but in the end it was decided to rename the film so as not to spoil the main concept. By the way, if you noticed, the film is similar to John Carpenter’s film “The Thing”, where the alien creature also took the form of people. Only in the film "The Thing" will it be revealedit was possible with the help of fire, not homemade drugs. The creators did not hide the fact that they were inspired by this particular film when creating the film “The Faculty”.



10. The film's budget was 15 million dollars, while twice as much was spent on marketing (advertising), that is, 30 million. But in the end, the worldwide box office was only 40 million, making the film a failure.

11. Many scenes were cut from the film. The storyline with a girl named Venus suffered the most. It was decided to completely cut this line from the final version of the film. Venus herself can be seen only in one short episode, but the heroine had neither a name nor words.