FILM · 2013 · USA
Her
- Directed by
- Spike Jonze
- Runtime
- 126 min
- Studio
- Annapurna Pictures
48 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every need. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (48)
- #001
Samantha Morton was originally the voice of Samantha and was on set with Joaquin Phoenix every day. After filming was completed and Spike Jonze began editing, he felt something was wrong. With Morton's approval he decided to reshape the role, and Scarlett Johansson was brought in to replace Morton, with all of the dialogue re-recorded.
- #002
Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, who play a married/divorced couple in the film, later married and had two children.
- #003
Amy Adams said that writer/director Spike Jonze locked her and Joaquin Phoenix in a room together for an hour or two every day and had them talk to each other. Jonze did this so the actors would get to know each other better. Adams credits this for her and Phoenix's close friendship.
- #004
All of the apartment scenes were shot on location. Dutch cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema decided to replace all the windows surrounding the 34th-floor apartment in order to get the best possible lighting conditions. He also decided to place large mirrors on the helicopter platform of the skyscraper across the street. This allowed him to reflect sunlight back into the apartment.
- #005
Most of the city backgrounds, especially those featuring skyscrapers, were actually shot in Shanghai. You can see numerous identifiable skyscrapers such as the Shanghai World Financial Center. If you look carefully, there are even Chinese signs.
- #006
This is the only film Spike Jonze has written and directed entirely from his own original screenplay.
- #007
Director Spike Jonze loved the Alien Child role so much that he often gave notes to his editor and producer as that character.
- #008
Stuck in the editing process with a cut that began at 150 minutes, Spike Jonze asked Steven Soderbergh to edit it on instinct. Soderbergh came back within 24 hours with a 90-minute cut, which helped Jonze make his final 126-minute version.
- #009
In some of the more emotional scenes, Amy Adams would sing songs from famous musicals such as Annie (1982) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) to cheer herself up. Eventually Joaquin Phoenix would join in and they would sing together. However, they stopped when they saw that Spike Jonze was filming them.
- #010
The airplane sculpture displayed in the plaza outside the Pacific Design Center was entirely made in CGI. No such sculpture exists at the real location in West Hollywood.
- #011
One of the legacies of Samantha Morton's casting is the name of Theodore's operating system. Both lead female roles take the same name as their actresses; Amy from actress Amy Adams and Samantha from Morton, but because Morton had to be recast at the last minute, the operating system's name remained Samantha.
- #012
Her (2013) is dedicated to the memories of actor James Gandolfini, author Maurice Sendak, cinematographer Harris Savides and musician-film producer Adam Yauch. (All four had worked with director Spike Jonze to some extent over the past 20 years.)
- #013
During the setup routine of the Samantha personal assistant operating system, the main character is asked questions about his mother. The answer he tries to give is cut off, the synthesized voice says the process is complete, and the program abruptly ends. This recalls ELIZA, a pioneering artificial intelligence project created in the mid-1960s that mimicked meaningful free-form communication by responding to certain verbal cues in human speech. ELIZA initially baffled the scientific community with how it created this illusion, but it failed when interlocutors offered metaphors and ELIZA responded without responding. The textbook example: "Human: 'I've been thinking that necessity is the mother of invention.' ELIZA: 'Interesting. Tell me about your mother.'".
- #014
Several scenes featured fictional video games; these sequences were developed by animation artist David O'Reilly. His work on the film inspired him to develop his own video games and ultimately led to his first film, Mountain.
- #015
When Spike Jonze wrote the first draft, he didn't know the film's title and was about to send it to a few people to read via FedEx. He put "Untitled Rick Howard Project" on the cover. Later, "[Spike's] manager sent it to Warner Brothers, and from that moment on, for a year and a half, every email, every contract was about the 'Untitled Rick Howard Project,' and nobody knew who Rick Howard was." Rick Howard is one of four partners in Girl Skateboards along with Spike Jonze. Spike said he would go to the studio, the security guard would stop him, and he would say, "I'm with Rick Howard." The security guard would say, "You're with Rick Howard? OK go on."
- #016
Woody Allen had a major influence on the film's screenplay. "One of the films I watched while writing Her (2013) was Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), because the script is so incredibly written," Jonze explained. "There's a lot of talk about the idea of what the film is about, but mostly the characters go through the story and take you through it with their decisions. That was really inspiring."
- #017
Samantha Morton, who voiced Samantha during production and was replaced by Scarlett Johansson after principal photography was completed, is listed in the credits as an associate producer on the film.
- #018
While helping Theo with a rehearsal reading of some letters, Samantha says, "… but I'm not much of a poet so I think I might have messed them up a bit." This may be a reference to Alan Turing's article on Computing and Artificial Intelligence, in which he proposes a possible test of a computer's intelligence by asking it questions to answer. As an example, he suggests the following question and answer: Q: Please write me a sonnet on the subject of the Forth Bridge. A: Count me out on this one. I never could write poetry.
- #019
The cinematographer has a cameo and can be seen at the beginning of the party scene.
- #020
While walking through the streets, a sign reading "brunner" in the iconic Blade Runner (1982) typeface can be seen behind Theo.
- #021
Carey Mulligan was initially cast but was dropped from the cast due to scheduling conflicts. Rooney Mara was brought in in her place.
- #022
Chris Cooper shot several scenes, but his role was cut entirely from the final film.
- #023
Samantha mentions that a group of operating systems has created a superintelligence based on Alan Watts, who died in the 1970s. There is in fact an organization called "The Alan Watts Organization" that preserves Watts's legacy. AWO is a subsidiary of the Electronic Library. Alan Wilson Watts, born: 6 January 1915, Chislehurst; died: 16 November 1973, Mount Tamalpais.
- #024
In the film, Theo is shown looking at a drawing by Maurice Sendak dated 3-5-07. Jonze was working with him at the time.
- #025
Chris Cooper, who was cut entirely from the film, is thanked in the end credits. Among others thanked are Catherine Keener, Nicole Holofcener, Bennett Miller and Steven Soderbergh. As Mark Harris revealed in New York Magazine's cover story on Her (2013), Jonze asked Soderbergh to prepare his own cut of the film; however, the final edit belonged to Jonze and his editors Eric Zumbrunnen and Jeff Buchanan.
- #026
Scarlett Johansson had previously voiced an operating system who dates her male owner in the film Donkey Punch (2006).
- #027
It is the only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year that was not nominated in any acting category.
- #028
In a 2016 BBC poll of 177 critics worldwide, Her was chosen as the 84th best film since 2000.
- #029
It is the only Best Picture Oscar nominee that year that was also nominated for Best Song.
- #030
Comedian Pete Holmes had a role, but it was cut from the final edit.
- #031
The service Theodore works for is called 'Beautiful Handwriting Letters. Com'. Theodore's title is Letter Writer #Six-Twelve.
- #032
At no point in the film is anyone seen wearing a belt.
- #033
It is the first of three films pairing Joaquin Phoenix with Rooney Mara; the later films are Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) and Mary Magdalene (2018).
- #034
It was chosen as the closing film of the prestigious New York Film Festival, held by the Lincoln Center Film Society on 13 October 2013 in NYC.
- #035
It is the first Spike Jonze film not composed by his longtime collaborator Carter Burwell.
- #036
Her also won Jonze Best Film and Best Director at the National Board of Review Awards, and the American Film Institute included the film on its list of the ten best films of 2013.
- #037
The pen used to sign the divorce papers is a Rapidograph, a type of pen used for technical drawing and drafting.
- #038
The live-action cast includes one Oscar winner, Joaquin Phoenix, and two Oscar nominees, Amy Adams and Rooney Mara, while the voice cast includes one Oscar winner, Spike Jonze, and two Oscar nominees, Scarlett Johansson and Kristen Wiig, meaning two Oscar winners and four Oscar nominees in total.
- #039
In the first panoramic shot of the future Los Angeles skyline, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel with its distinctive five towers is clearly visible.
- #040
It is the second of the two films Spike Jonze directed in the last 11 years, the first being Where the Wild Things Are (2009).
- #041
It marks the debut of May Lindstrom.
- #042
The airplane sculpture balanced on its nose recalls many images from Superman mythology. In Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy, the "superman" is a concept of creativity, independence and self-determination that mirrors the character arcs of both Theodore and Samantha.
- #043
People pointed out the similarities between this film and the 1984 film Electric Dreams (1984). Spike Jonze denied having seen the earlier film.
- #044
The DVD includes an extra film titled "Her: Love in the Modern Age," in which people discuss their experiences with love. One of the speakers is Marc Maron, who appeared with Joaquin Phoenix in 2019's "Joker."
- #045
The voices of two former Saturday Night Live (1975) cast members appear in Her (2013), one of whom was Jonze's co-star in "Adaptation."
- #046
In 2010, Spike Jonze directed a short film titled "I'm Here." That same year, Joaquin Phoenix starred in an unrelated film titled "I'm Still Here."
- #047
Most of the futuristic city scenes were shot in Shanghai, whose skyline was combined with that of Los Angeles to create the film's unique vision of the future.
- #048
Portia Doubleday and Rooney Mara appear in the same film for the first time since Youth in Revolt (2009).
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