FILM · 2003 · USA
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
186 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (186)
- #001
Adoption advocate Bruce Willis has a miniature in the film. Drew Barrymore asked Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu to do her a favor for the cameo and make a PSA for adoption. They were happy to do it.
- #002
Bill Murray did not want to reprise the role of Bosley because he refused to work with director McG again. Murray had also had problems with Lucy Liu on the first film, but he insisted publicly that Liu was not the reason for his departure. Bernie Mac replaced him in this installment.
- #003
Drew Barrymore is a passionate believer in gun control. That is why none of the Angels is seen using a gun in this picture. The producers had initially planned to explain that the Angels were not experienced with firearms.
- #004
All of the Irish characters (including the butlers) are either Scottish, English or American. None of them is actually from Ireland. This was referenced in the deleted scene in which Bernie Mac complained that the Irish accent he was using was at least as authentic as theirs.
- #005
Pete's high school reunion is for Rydell High, the same school as in Grease (1978) and Grease 2 (1982).
- #006
The car Natalie (Cameron Diaz) drives while following Carter (Robert Patrick) is the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California made famous by Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). That film could not rent the real car and built a replica for shooting, whereas this film used the real car, worth over 1 million dollars.
- #007
Because it was never made clear who pulled the trigger, Bruce Willis's Senator character Madison was shot in the head by Demi Moore's character or perhaps by someone working for her. In real life the two had recently divorced.
- #008
William Rose plays Bailey. The name is a nod to Guns N' Roses singer W. Axl Rose, whose real name was William Bruce Bailey until he was seventeen.
- #009
The mansion where the monastery is located can be recognized as the Playboy Mansion. It is where the young boys who look at Playboy magazine arrive. One of the songs on the soundtrack is The J. Geils Band's 'Centerfold'; Drew Barrymore posed for the magazine in 1995. Drew Barrymore's Playboy cover was going to be in the scene but was not.
- #010
Luke Wilson's (Pete) brother Andrew Wilson appears briefly as a police officer.
- #011
In the scene where Madison Lee (Demi Moore) leaves Charlie Townsend's office, the walls behind her have photos of former Angels. Among the photos are Tanya Roberts, Janet Jackson, Jodie Foster, Christie Brinkley and Heather Locklear.
- #012
Melissa McCarthy has an uncredited cameo in the film as a curious neighbor at the opening crime scene. She had previously played a different character, Doris, in Charlie's Angels (2000).
- #013
When all the Angels are shot by Madison, the formation they make where they lie is the same as the Charlie's Angels symbol (but of course without the guns).
- #014
When O'Grady gets out of prison, the picture on Dylan's wall is a photo from the background montage of Charlie's Angels (2000) of Drew Barrymore smoking in the bathroom with a cast on her arm. Music from the film was used in the temporary mix of the scene.
- #015
The "fallen Angel" story featuring Madison Lee was actually intended to be the basis for a third Charlie's Angels film.
- #016
Demi Moore drives a Ferrari Enzo on the beach in one scene. For the scene the car had to be flown from the factory in Italy; after filming was completed, the Enzo was flown to France to be officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. Moore thus became the first person to drive the car on American soil.
- #017
The address on the envelope Pete opens at the beginning of the film is Pete and Natalie's valid beach address, 2028 The Strand, Hermosa Beach, California.
- #018
John Forsythe's last film.
- #019
The motocross scene features miniature versions of four famous riders: Ricky Carmichael, Jeremy McGrath, Chris Gosselaar and Carey Hart.
- #020
In the scene where Natalie (Cameron Diaz) distracts the surfer on the beach and Alex (Lucy Liu) and Dylan (Drew Barrymore) gather clues under the GTO, the actors could not fit under the car, so jacks had to be placed under it.
- #021
In the weeks before the film's release, a series of short animated adventures voiced by John Forsythe as Charlie was produced and distributed online. Charlie's Angels: Animated Adventures (2003) expands on the events shown at the beginning of the film.
- #022
Jamie Foxx was initially in talks to play Jimmy Bosley.
- #023
The film never clarifies why Jimmy Bosley replaced John Bosley or why John Bosley is absent from this film. According to commentary, John Bosley was on Survivor and had not yet been voted off the island.
- #024
P!nk and The Pussycat Dolls had small roles in this film. The Pussycat Dolls also appeared in the music video for Pink's song "Trouble".
- #025
When Justin Theroux emerges from the warehouse fire, the theme song from Cape Fear (1991) plays.
- #026
The Pussycat Dolls perform as background dancers at the sailors' club.
- #027
Lucy Liu broke character and started laughing at the idea that Bosley likes fat women, but it stayed in the final cut.
- #028
In the men's restroom at Rydell High, Natalie is shown wearing the same Spider-Man underwear she wore while dancing in her room in her first scene in Charlie's Angels (2000).
- #029
While Madison and Natalie talk on the beach, Madison wears a black bikini and Natalie wears a white one, signaling that Madison is the "bad guy" and has turned dark and is no longer an Angel, while Natalie is considered loyal to Charlie and still an innocent Angel, hence the white.
- #030
The film's working title was "Halo".
- #031
During the fight scene in the warehouse, The Prodigy's song Firestarter plays in the background. Later, after the Angels escape the warehouse, Dylan uses her "trusty lighter" — shown in the first film, in which Dylan is tied to a chair — to ignite the liquid fuel gun Alex is using. Drew Barrymore, who plays Dylan, starred in Firestarter (1984), a film about a young girl with pyrokinesis (the ability to start fires with her mind).
- #032
A photograph of Bill Murray is visible in Mama Bosley's house. Murray played Bosley in Charlie's Angels (2000).
- #033
On set, Matt LeBlanc bragged about starring alongside John Cleese on the series Friends.
- #034
Body count: 20 (17 more than the first film).
- #035
When Madison Lee talks on the phone with the Mongolian commander at the beginning of the film, she mentions "going to plan B", something an Angel usually says or does (for example, escaping through the window while in the Mongolian bar is going to plan B), hinting at her possible identity early in the film.
- #036
At one point the Angels dance to the "Pink Panther" theme. In Brazil, the "Charlie's Angels" series (both the films and the TV show) is titled "As Panteras" ("The Panthers").
- #037
The actresses performed almost all of their own stunts and all of their own fights.
- #038
Lucy Liu performed the flamethrower stunt herself.
- #039
Demi Moore came up with the idea of pulling her shoulder back, as in Lethal Weapon, to show Madison Lee's resilience. It was kept in the final film.
- #040
Courtney Love was offered the role of Madison Lee but turned it down.
- #041
Drew Barrymore was thrown during a chain fight and broke her tailbone. All three actresses did their own stunts for the scene.
- #042
Cameron Diaz can pop the cork off a champagne bottle in real life.
- #043
The actresses went to strip clubs, and Drew Barrymore learned to pole dance.
- #044
Tyler Hoechlin auditioned for the role of Max.
- #045
People on the internet liked the Thin Man so much from the first film that the writers wrote him into the script.
- #046
This is the only live-action film in which Cameron Diaz has reprised a role she previously played.
- #047
Drew Barrymore and Andrew Wilson have collaborated on five unrelated films. The films they appeared in together: Never Been Kissed (1999), Charlie's Angels (2000), Charles Angels: Full Throttle (2003), Fever Pitch (2005) and Whip It (2009). All of them were produced by Barrymore.
- #048
Astrology expert and Angel Madison Lee, played by Demi Moore, wears a Scorpio necklace and describes Dylan, played by Drew Barrymore, as a "typical rebellious Pisces." Demi Moore's birthday is November 11 (Scorpio), and Drew Barrymore's birthday is February 22 (Pisces).
- #049
Bruce Willis wore a prosthetic nose and a wig for the role.
- #050
John Cleese and Cameron Diaz would later reunite as King Harold and Princess Fiona in Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.
- #051
This is one of two films in which Cameron Diaz opens a bottle by cutting it with a knife. The other is What Happens in Vegas (2008).
- #052
Chris Pontius, who appears in this film, admits that he hates it.
- #053
The scene in which Justin Theroux's character Seamus O'Grady is released from prison is a remake of the scene in which Robert De Niro's character Max Cady is released from prison in the 1991 remake of Cape Fear. Even the thematic music in both scenes is the same. Interestingly enough, actor Telly Savalas appeared in the original 1962 Cape Fear. Telly Savalas was Jennifer Aniston's godfather. Justin Theroux and Aniston married. And actress Juliette Lewis was in the 1991 Cape Fear. Lewis and Brad Pitt dated before Pitt married Aniston.
- #054
Bigfoot built a monster truck for one of Dylan's flashbacks.
- #055
McG feared that Matt LeBlanc's first lines, written in a Chinese accent, would be perceived as offensive, but he was pleased that there was no controversy.
- #056
McG wanted Serena Williams and Chelsea Clinton to make cameos as angels, but they turned the roles down.
- #057
Bernie Mac improvised by licking his surfboard.
- #058
Lucy Liu's handkerchief caught fire because McG wanted them added and they were not flame-retardant.
- #059
The producers built a giant treadmill so Lucy Liu could skate on a street luge in Malibu.
- #060
The Pussycat Dolls wanted to be part of the film because it was so much fun. The entire choreography was real.
- #061
A woman was surfing in Hawaii and Cameron Diaz's face was placed there via CGI.
- #062
Harrison Ford came to the Treasure Chest set on one shooting day.
- #063
On certain shooting days, Lucy Liu was busy filming Kill Bill, Demi Moore was filming her small role on Will & Grace, Bernie Mac was filming his show, Drew Barrymore was doing promotional work, and Cameron Diaz was doing promotional work for Gangs of New York.
- #064
The cameos include Matt LeBlanc, Bruce Willis, P!nk, the Pussycat Dolls, John Cleese, Jaclyn Smith, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
- #065
In the M.C. Hammer dance scene and the hot dog vendor scene, the word Kodachrome is written in black pen on Dylan's left forearm. Kodachrome is the title of a song Paul Simon wrote in 1973. This film was shot on Kodak film stock.
- #066
At the end of the summit, Madison tells the angels "enjoy heaven," to which Natalie replies "go to hell," when they kick her into the trapdoor of the theater stage and Madison fires her gun at the gas coming from the pipe, causing the gun to explode and showing that she has gone to hell.
- #067
At the end of filming the opening, Robert Patrick's knees were bleeding.
- #068
McG wanted Rob Halford to appear in this film, but he did not.
- #069
The house where Mr. Munday lives is the same house where Jackie Treehorn lives in The Big Lebowski.
- #070
Roof Access was done on a sound stage at Sony. The producers built a giant Los Angeles sign and there was no air conditioning.
- #071
John August revealed that Alex Munday's mother was going to be shown but was scrapped in a later draft.
- #072
In the storyboards for the motocross scene, the Angels encountered three people on a bicycle in a circus pose.
- #073
Melissa McCarthy improvised her dialogue.
- #074
During filming, McG explained to Demi Moore that Madison's conversation with Charlie was like Lucifer's conversation with God.
- #075
Demi Moore, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu have fond memories of this film.
- #076
The telephone in Bosley's office is actually a Sony RM-AV3000 Integrated Remote Commander (a remote control programmable for audio/video equipment).
- #077
Charlie's actual speaker box is from the real show.
- #078
When John August first wrote the screenplay, the studio had not told him that the cast of the first film had not yet returned.
- #079
Farrah Fawcett was initially going to make a cameo at the Mexican Restaurant, but she was not hired due to budget constraints.
- #080
Demi Moore and Robert Patrick appeared in Striptease (1996).
- #081
Initially a third and fourth film were planned to go into production, but after the disappointment in this film's box office returns, Sony cancelled its plans for further sequels. Instead, the series was given a soft reboot with Charlie's Angels (2019).
- #082
As in GoldenEye (1995), Mission: Impossible (1996) and Mission: Impossible II (2000), Dylan, Alex and Natalie discover that Madison Lee (a former Angel) is a traitor and is behind the HALO theft.
- #083
McG is a big fan of Terminator 2 and is happy that Robert Patrick is part of the cast.
- #084
The mandarin that Madison Lee talks to was actually voiced by the editor's wife.
- #085
Andrew Wilson says that "questions" is one of the filmmakers' favourite words.
- #086
Sony's marketing team chose the Full Throttle subtitle at the last minute from among male test audiences. McG initially wanted the subtitle to be Reloaded.
- #087
The Treasure Chest scene was initially more graphic.
- #088
The scene in which Natalie is next to the bathroom door was shot during reshoots three weeks before the film's release. One of the biggest challenges was that only Cameron Diaz was available.
- #089
In an extremely elaborate sequence, near the end of the film Bosley uses a pole to throw a bomb dropped from the air by Madison like a baseball. Bernie Mac appeared in the baseball film Mr. 3000 (2004).
- #090
Since the cast had been training in martial arts since the first film, they had more experience going into the training for this one.
- #091
Drew Barrymore thought the witness protection program was connected to Dylan.
- #092
Numerous paparazzi photographs were taken of Demi Moore while she was running on the beach.
- #093
Demi Moore, in a black bikini, became the first person to ride a Ferrari in North America. She had to drive the car and pulled it into the beach parking lot without going over the speed bumps so as not to tear up the car's undercarriage.
- #094
In the Angels' opening montage, they show the red Gran Torino with the white stripe seen in Starsky & Hutch, followed by the same type of canopy jeep frequently used in Fantasy Island. Aaron Spelling produced both shows.
- #095
Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore had to learn to roller skate.
- #096
The opening was shot on a sound stage at Sony during the first week of filming.
- #097
The Corvette seen in the CSI scene is the same vehicle from Boogie Nights.
- #098
The revving engine of the Thin Man's motocross vehicle is the sound of a chainsaw.
- #099
Most of the motocross scene was done with practical effects. Dummies were used for the exploding bikes. It was shot over 3 to 4 days with the first unit, 3 weeks with the second unit, and one more week on the set.
- #100
Producer Nancy Juvonen did not want the Angels to jump off the pier into the water, but McG convinced her that the Angels would exit that way.
- #101
In the beach scene between Diaz and Moore, Natalie (Diaz) is seen getting a mermaid tattoo. In the widescreen shots on the beach, you can see that the surfboard design matches her tattoo.
- #102
John Cleese plays Alex's (Lucy Liu) father, who thinks she is a brain surgeon rather than a spy.
- #103
When various crime syndicates gather in Hollywood, it is later revealed that the three Angels were masked and in disguise as the people who trap their henchmen (the Guinness receptionist with the map, the money-counting machine Musso and Frank's, and the elevator operator at the Hollywood Roosevelt). All of these events take place during the premiere of a fictional film called Maximum Extreme, a parody of Mission: Impossible, a TV and film series in which agents commonly wear masks to look like different people.
- #104
All of the lemonade in the beach scene is real.
- #105
The producers added a halo idea to Madison Lee's backlighting to evoke the idea of a dark Angel. She also wears a scorpion necklace.
- #106
The cow scene was originally written for Natalie to ride Shamu, but it was changed because the real trainers would be riding Shamu.
- #107
Faust was staged at a Los Angeles theater for the symbolism in Madison Lee.
- #108
In Mission: Impossible (1996), the MacGuffin is also a two-part list of secret identities. That film featured a list of undercover agents; this one features people in witness protection.
- #109
Lucy Liu wore a wig in the beach scene.
- #110
Initially the Columbia Lady's head was to resemble Farrah Fawcett, but the idea was scrapped because it was not cost-effective.
- #111
The rings floating toward the top are operated like puppets.
- #112
The rings in the electrical vault were designed to number 1 million rings, but the producers could only afford 217 rings. They are all pure platinum and titanium.
- #113
The first shot of San Pedro is a miniature helicopter.
- #114
The producers wanted to use the theme from the Irish Springs commercials for the clover keychain, but this did not happen due to legal issues.
- #115
Cameron Diaz wears a harness in the men's restroom scene. She did her own removal herself. An oversized toilet was built so Cameron would fit.
- #116
In post-production, the producers used silvering for Drew Barrymore's face.
- #117
McG wanted the three actresses on a three-person jet ski, and the women turned down the offer in favor of a jet boat.
- #118
Jokes about sailors and semen could have been included but were scrapped to avoid an R rating.
- #119
The light in the Mexican bar Dylan goes to symbolizes the hand of God.
- #120
Because two different cars were used in some of the Maserati shots, it has either a black lever or a red lever.
- #121
The producers filmed the observatory scenes just before the observatory's renovation.
- #122
The Hollywood Boulevard finale scene was shot both on location and on a soundstage built to resemble it.
- #123
McG wanted a character of Wizard of Oz quality for the scene in which the Angels recover from gunshot wounds. It was actually shot on a rainy day, and the scene was digitally altered to look sunny.
- #124
Janet Dubois had to use a leaning board while wearing her gold dress.
- #125
Initially Alex was to kiss the Thin Man, but the producers decided it would be more appropriate for Dylan to kiss him.
- #126
Bruce Willis's scene was originally written to take place on a train crossing the desert, but it was considered too expensive.
- #127
The opening scene was initially to take place in Venezuela at a location with arms smugglers. The studios told the writers to use the draft of the scene set in Mongolia.
- #128
Marianne Wibberley grew up with the original Charlie's Angels show and enjoyed writing this film.
- #129
In the opening chase scene, the helicopter was supposed to land and slide down what was essentially a ski slope, but this did not happen due to budget constraints.
- #130
The roller derby scene originated from old storyboards designed for the first film.
- #131
The car wash scene was shot on the first day of principal photography.
- #132
For the foyer, photos of both the Angels and the other actors were cleaned by Amanda Goldberg. The other actresses also approved their photos representing past Angels.
- #133
Max Petroni was originally a girl and the role was once much larger. In earlier drafts in which the finale took place in Vegas, it was revealed that Max was actually working with Ray Carter because Ray Carter had been deceived.
- #134
In earlier drafts of the script, viewers saw the man eating pork rinds killed immediately after the Angels montage.
- #135
Demi Moore was McG's first and only choice for the role of Madison Lee. Cormac and Marianne Wibberley created the character of Madison Lee because Ray Carter was the villain in John August's first draft. John prepared a draft in which Madison Lee was a former Angel. It was never put into the film. And the Wibberleys included Madison in the plot John had made.
- #136
Alex's reunion with her father was initially shown after the surfing scene, but because the pacing did not work, the editors moved the scene earlier.
- #137
Before a motocross scene existed, the motorcycle chase in the first draft took place in an office building.
- #138
John August kept thinking of Power Rangers for the motocross scene because of the similarly flashy outfits.
- #139
It was written in the third draft of the script that Dylan was in witness protection.
- #140
In earlier versions of the script, Matt LeBlanc brought Alex's family to the opening of his restaurant.
- #141
The producers put the clue in the orphanage to the GTO so that the studio would not cut the scene.
- #142
John Cleese worked on the film for 2 days.
- #143
Bosley's board game was actually Jenga.
- #144
Initially Madison Lee placed the rings in the vault and Seamus did not know what was happening, but he knew the Angels were going in his place.
- #145
In the earliest versions of the script, there was only one kind of HALO ring. Natalie would propose to Pete with a ring.
- #146
The high school reunion number was added very late in the shoot.
- #147
The scene in which Madison Lee takes the rings was shot during reshoots.
- #148
McG and John August held a four-hour meeting with Demi Moore in a hotel room about Madison Lee's motivations.
- #149
Natalie's guess at a clue about Astaire came from Simon Kinberg's script.
- #150
For the scene in which Madison shoots at the Angels atop the observatory, the producers had Kevlar vests ready for the three actresses.
- #151
The producers moved away from more fantastical Hong Kong-style martial arts toward a grittier style.
- #152
A jet fighter scene was planned but was cancelled because it was too expensive.
- #153
The second unit director designed the motocross jumps.
- #154
Principal photography began on 1 August 2002.
- #155
McG asked the filmmakers behind Ferris Bueller's Day Off for permission to use the actual Ferrari seen in that film.
- #156
The producers blew up the Chevelle in Griffith Park. They cut and repaired the roof. The fuel tank was removed for safety reasons.
- #157
The scene in which the Angels crash in a helicopter was first used for the teaser trailer before the dam scene was shot. Hansen Dam was used for the scene.
- #158
The producers used the prosthetic rear end of the calf from City Slickers (1991).
- #159
Béla Károlyi shot his scene over 4 hours.
- #160
The scene with Bosley holding the stop sign when the car arrives was shot at 6 a.m. on the Sony sound stage, at a time when Bernie Mac was very busy making his TV series.
- #161
The owner of the California GT Ferrari, worth more than one and a half million dollars, allowed Cameron Diaz to drive it for a scene. She drove it on a mountain road.
- #162
Cameron Diaz sat on the sound stage for the close-ups of Natalie driving the Ferrari.
- #163
In the first script Bosley was Bill Murray's nephew, and they later decided to cast Bernie Mac.
- #164
The beach scene was made because the first film did not have a beach scene.
- #165
The motocross scene was initially going to take place at Angel Stadium, but it was so expensive that the writers ultimately decided to shoot it in Anaheim. McG found the coal piles. The sky was digitally lit.
- #166
Drew Barrymore held a meeting with the writers and said that, despite having said it in the previous film, she did not want to just say "Let's go."
- #167
The scene in which O'Grady takes the rings was reshot.
- #168
Marianne Wibberley saw Justin Theroux at this film's premiere and had no idea who he was because he looked so different in real life. Seamus O'Grady was based on her own version of the script. The idea originated with John August. The writers talked about doing all the different gangs and said an Irish gang would be funny. O'Grady took his name from Wibberley's accountant.
- #169
The Thin Man's medallion was sold at auction on eBay for $90.
- #170
Dylan was shot at El Carmen Mexican Restaurant at a truck stop in Barstow.
- #171
Initially Alex was supposed to get into the car and check the contents of the briefcase. And she overhears the phone calls Gary makes, which causes Alex to approach Gary's car.
- #172
Rich Taylor put 30 pounds of gack on a motocross bike and jumped it over 75-foot gaps. There is an aluminum mount to hold the camera.
- #173
The Mic Rig is the same car from the first Fast and Furious film. There are 8 cars. One of them is on a hydraulic rotator. 7 of the vehicles were scrapped.
- #174
One of the difficulties of designing the costumes was making them unique while still resembling the essence of the Angels.
- #175
McG wanted Luke Wilson to kiss Cameron Diaz more softly, but Luke kissed her with hard lips.
- #176
A blue color palette was used to separate the Angels' color palette.
- #177
There is a shot in which Randy Emmers wears a matching shirt just before the motocross starts, but it was cut.
- #178
When Shia LaBeouf took off his helmet on screen, every girl in the test audience screamed.
- #179
Costume designer Joe Aulisi remained friends with the three lead actresses.
- #180
In one of the original drafts written by John August, Natalie and Alex were actually after Gary Stew because he had a briefcase and they wanted to find out what was in it, which gave momentum to the car chase scene. The actors ate lunch before shooting the scene.
- #181
Madison Lee actually would have loved a house in the Hollywood Hills, but it was too expensive.
- #182
The gangsters going to the private party were first filmed for the Heaven Casino, before it was thought that building the casino was too expensive.
- #183
The film inspired various GIFs featuring Madison Lee.
- #184
The pet that Daddy Munday gives to his daughter Alex, played by Lucy Liu, is named "ferret"; the word refers to a furry predatory animal with a long, slender body and a cute, sharp face. Surprisingly, ferrets are not related to mice; they are instead related to cats and dogs.
- #185
On one of the first days of shooting, producers Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore experienced the excitement of acting alongside Demi Moore at the observatory.
- #186
Bill Murray and Bernie Mac are both Chicago natives.
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