"The Usual Suspects": Behind the Scenes

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. In Christopher McQuarrie's original script, the "boogeyman" character now known as Keyser Soze was not known by that name. What was the initial name of that character? Seyser Kose Sesyer Volme Keyser Skolte Keyser Sume

2. We learn in the DVD commentary by director Brian Singer and screenwriter Chris McQuarrie that Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne) had a good reason for asking Keyser Soze what time it was in the opening scene of the film. What was the reason? Kobayashi was set to meet Keaton at exactly 1:00 AM Edie Finneran was set to be executed at midnight Keaton had set a timed explosive on the boat Keaton's birthday would start at midnight

3. One of the more humorous revelations on the DVD details the fact that the line-up scene (in which the five main characters meet for the first time) was meant to be very serious, but the actors were simply incapable of completing even a single take without bursting into laughter. It's further revealed on the DVD that part of the reason for the actors' inability to concentrate on their jobs was one actor's insistence on indulging in loud, pungent flatulence throughout the shoot that day. The actor responsible for this constant disruption played which character? McManus Fenster Hockney Kint

4. What was the approximate budget of "The Usual Suspects"? $14 million $4 million $24 million $1.5 million

5. How long was the principal shoot for "The Usual Suspects"? 45 days 55 days 25 days 35 days

6. There is a clue in the translation of Keyser Soze's name that suggests his true identity. What English word or phrase is the clue? "Kevin" "Limp" "Talks too much" "The man with the plan"

7. Script revisions were frequent during the shoot -- so much that, at times, even the actors weren't entirely certain about what was happening in the plot. Which actor was reportedly angry to learn that his character was not, in fact, Keyser Soze? Stephen Baldwin Gabriel Byrne Kevin Pollak Benicio Del Toro

8. As Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey) tells U.S. Customs Agent Dave Kujan (Chazz Palmintieri) a disturbing story about the young Keyser Soze, we see Soze as a man with very long hair and an obscured face. Who actually portrayed Soze in this sequence? Kevin Spacey intern Scott Morgan director Brian Singer screenwriter Chris McQuarrie

9. A scene was shot in which the corpse of Arturro Marquez (Castulo Guerra), the man who could have positively identified Keyser Soze (and who was therefore killed by Soze on the boat), is discovered by a young boy fishing on a pier. The scene wound up on the cutting room floor, which was something of a disappointment to director Brian Singer, given how much it cost to design and construct a lifelike mannequin to represent Marquez's waterlogged corpse. How much did the mannequin cost? between $10,000 and $12,000 between $4,000 and $5,000 between $20,000 and $24,000 between $15,000 and $16,000

10. One of the people involved in the making of "The Usual Suspects" provided two somewhat unrelated services. What two titles does he or she hold in the credits of the film? Producer and Costume Designer Editor and Composer Screenwriter and Second Unit Director Stunt Double and Camera Operator

11. Brian Singer tells an amusing and touching story in one of the DVD's featurettes about being approached at the Cannes Film Festival by an elderly woman who told him, after seeing "The Usual Suspects," that a certain director would be proud of him, had he seen the film. Which director did the woman mention? Michael Curtiz Alfred Hitchcock John Huston Francois Truffaut

12. What percentage of the Academy Awards for which "The Usual Suspects" was nominated did the film actually win? 0% 100% 50% 33 1/3 %

13. Which of the main five actors from "The Usual Suspects" did NOT participate in the featurettes seen on the DVD? Gabriel Byrne Benicio Del Toro Kevin Spacey They all did

14. Both Brian Singer and Chris McQuarrie have stated quite clearly that "The Usual Suspects" was created specifically to showcase Kevin Spacey. What previous film by Singer and McQuarrie had Spacey seen and been impressed with to the extent that he told its creators, "We should do something together sometime"? Answer: (Two Words)

15. True or False: Christopher McQuarrie titled his script "The Usual Suspects" because of the line "Round up the usual suspects" in "Casablanca" (1942). True False