How the film "The Bodyguard" was filmed: footage from filming and interesting facts about the film (18 photos)

The film was a huge success both in its homeland in the USA and throughout the world. But behind the scenes of this film, a lot of interesting, funny and even tragic things happened.





1. The film “The Bodyguard” was released back in 1992, but the script for it was written a couple of decades before that, that is, in the early 70s.

This was the first script written by the now famous screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan. It was he who would later write the scripts for such cult films as “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back” (as well as other later episodes), “Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark”, etc.



Lawrence Kasdan

But at that time he was an unknown screenwriter, so no one wanted to take his script into work. According to Lawrence Kasdan himself, he approached about 60 film studios, but was rejected everywhere.

2. The script for the film was written specifically for actor Steve McQueen and singer Diana Ross. But when we managed to find a studio that would take the script into production, a new problem arose. The fact is that in the 70s, many producers were afraid to make films about interracial romance. Therefore, the project had to be postponed.





Diana Ross

In 1979, the project was returned to again, with Diana Ross still to play the main role. But they planned to take another actor - Ryan O'Neal - for the role of the bodyguard. But he refused to star in this film, since his relationship with Diana Ross was quite tense.

After this, the project had to be pushed back again until the most favorable time for it arrived.

3. The best time for the script came when it caught the eye of Kevin Costner. The actor was interested in this plot, and he wanted not only to play the main role in the film, but to produce it.



Also, Kevin Costner slightly edited the original script, which is why, according to many, it became much deeper and more interesting.

4. After Kevin decided that the film "Bodyguard" had to be made, he began searching for a director. The first thing he did was call his friend director Mick Jackson and ask him if he wanted to direct a film about the bodyguard. Without hesitation, Mick Jackson gave his consent to sit in the director's chair.



5. But with the choice of the singer who will play the role of Rachel Marron, some difficulties arose. Such famous singers as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Dolly Parton and others auditioned for this role. But according to Kevin Costner himself, Whitney Houston had to play the main female role.



The only problem was that Whitney Houston herself had no particular desire to act in films, since she considered the heroine to be hysterical. In addition, she was afraid of screwing up, because she had no acting experience.

And you think that stopped Costner? Of course not. He was very persistent and did not want to see anyone in this role except Whitney Houston. As a result, another two whole years passed before the singer agreed to play the main role in the film. For this, Kevin promised that he would always be with her, and would always help as soon as it was required of him.

Moreover, he even asked Whitney not to take acting lessons from anyone, as she might start to overact.



Well, the actress herself did not remain in debt. Because Kevin helped her, she taught him vocals.

6. Whitney Houston said that she received threats while filming the film. The attackers sent her letters (as well as her heroine), promising to commit reprisals against her.



7. Despite the fact that romantic feelings flare up between the characters, not a single bed scene of the process itself was shown in the film (well, you understand). Whitney Houston personally insisted on this.



She refused to participate in sex scenes, even if an understudy would do it for her. Although it is worth considering that some scenes were still filmed. True, they were cut out at the installation stage.



8. The very iconic song “I will always love you”, which made Whitney Houston even more famous and which was nominated for an Oscar, was written by singer Dolly Parton, who was originally considered for the role of Rachel Marron.



Dolly Parton

True, this song was written 18 years before the release of the film, and, in principle, was not written specifically for the film. The song was based on her personal relationship with singer Porter Wagoner. Moreover, in 1974, Elvis Presley tried to buy the rights to this song from Dolly, but she refused him because she thought that he would ruin her personal song.

And when she sold the rights to the song for the film “The Bodyguard” and heard it performed by Whitney Houston, she was once again convinced that she had done the right thing when she refused Elvis Presley.

9. The same mansion in which the main character of the film lived has appeared in films more than once. It was he who appeared in the film "The Godfather". We are talking about that same legendary scene with a horse's head in bed.



Also, it was in this mansion that the future US President John Kennedy and his wife stayed in the early 50s.

10. In the final scene, when Rachel comes down the ramp and runs towards Frank to throw herself into his arms, the camera and operator followed Whitney Houston on a special platform along the rails, after which she circled around the actors.



But the most interesting thing is that during this very circling the operator fell from the platform, and the camera continued to ride on the rails without him. The actors continued to kiss without leaving their roles. Fortunately, the cameraman was not injured, but this particular shot was included in the final version of the film.

11. Whitney Houston was pregnant during the filming of The Bodyguard. But in the midst of filming, the singer suffered a miscarriage, which is why filming had to be postponed for some time.



12. According to Kevin Costner, he based his image on Steve McQueen, who could have played a role in this film back in the late 70s.

13. Surely, many of you remember the original poster for the film, where Kevin Costner carries the singer in his arms. In fact, at that moment he was not carrying Whitney Houston herself, but her understudy, since the singer herself was absent that day. This was due specifically to her miscarriage.



14. When Kevin Costner was asked if he would remove anything from the film, he replied that he would replace the Oscar with something else.

15. Undoubtedly, the film "The Bodyguard" is a hit, but after its premiere, critics were extremely unhappy with it, calling it the worst film. Moreover, Kevin Costner was nominated for a Golden Raspberry as worst actor, but Whitney Houston received this award as worst actress.



But who doesn't care about Golden Raspberry? Moreover, box office receipts were almost 15 times higher than the film’s budget. With a budget of $25 million, The Bodyguard grossed $411 million worldwide. It was the second highest-grossing film of 1992. The Disney cartoon Aladdin grossed the most in 1992 ($504 million).



16. After the success of the film “The Bodyguard,” studio bosses and Kevin Costner himself started thinking about filming a sequel. Moreover, Princess Diana has already agreed to play the role of the main character. The film crew was ready to film, and Kevin already had a draft script in his hands.



But, unfortunately, on August 31, 1997, Princess Diana died in a car accident. After this, it was decided to abandon filming the continuation of the film.