FILM · 1995 · USA
Higher Learning
37 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (37)
- #001
Tupac Shakur was originally set to play the role of Malik Williams, but he was imprisoned shortly after taking the part.
- #002
Ironically, most of the Neo-Nazi skinheads were played by Jewish actors.
- #003
Because Laurence Fishburne was also working on Bad Company (1995) at the same time, he shot his scenes on weekends.
- #004
During the period when this film was shot, Tyra Banks and John Singleton were in a relationship.
- #005
Dustin Hoffman was initially considered for the role of Professor Maurice Phipps, Malik Williams's mentor. Hoffman wanted the plot to revolve around the professor and the student, but writer, producer and director John Singleton did not want this, so Hoffman was not cast.
- #006
John Singleton wanted Sidney Poitier to play Professor Maurice Phipps, but he was unavailable. Singleton's second choice was Samuel L. Jackson. The studio preferred Laurence Fishburne, who had worked successfully with Singleton on Boyz n the Hood (1991).
- #007
In the scene where David Isaacs (Adam Goldberg) walks toward his room (to find out that Remy (Michael Rapaport) has trashed his side of the room), a couple passes by him just before he enters the building. The man was writer, producer and director John Singleton.
- #008
After this film was released, it was heavily cut, and much of the romantic relationship between Taryn and Kristen Connor was removed, while more scenes emerged involving the ongoing activities and relationships of the neo-Nazis and other groups throughout the university.
- #009
The fictional college of Columbus University where this film is set was actually in south central Los Angeles, California. Production designer Keith Brian Burns converted some old dilapidated buildings into fraternity houses.
- #010
According to John Singleton, this film was based on his own college experiences while attending USC. In the DVD commentary, Singleton says that the scene in which Remy (Michael Rapaport) walks up to Malik Williams (Omar Epps) and voices his opinion about the shirt he is wearing was based on a real incident that happened to him, and that he too became angry and wanted to beat the man badly.
- #011
The idea for this film came about when director Jonathan Demme approached John Singleton to make a film about racial issues at universities across the country, during the pre-production stage of Boyz n the Hood (1991), which was being developed at Orion Pictures with Singleton directing and Demme producing. When the deal with Orion fell through, Singleton took up the idea and began developing it while at Columbia Pictures.
- #012
This was Tyra Banks's (Deja) first feature film.
- #013
Morris Chestnut appears in the background as a runner. Chestnut and Ice Cube played brothers in Boyz n the Hood (1991), which also featured Regina King.
- #014
John Singleton initially wanted Gwyneth Paltrow to play Kristen Connor and Juliette Lewis to play Taryn, but neither was available.
- #015
In John Singleton's original script, Remy shot Malik Williams with a sniper rifle. However, Singleton believed this would be too harsh for audiences. He decided to change it.
- #016
Drew Barrymore lost the role of Kristen Connor.
- #017
This film ends with the title "Unlearn" instead of "The End".
- #018
The song playing while Kristy is being raped is Tori Amos's 'Me and a Gun', which describes Amos's personal experience of being sexually assaulted in her youth.
- #019
Vivica A. Fox was considered for the role of Deja.
- #020
The fictional Columbus University was based on the real Columbus State University in Georgia.
- #021
Danzig sued the producers for showing the band's poster in a scene without their permission.
- #022
Omar Epps, Kristy Swanson and Andrew Bryniarski appeared in The Program (1993).
- #023
Ice Cube and Regina King appeared in Boyz n the Hood (1991) and Friday (1995).
- #024
Two years later, Michael Rapaport played the sniper in Metro (1997).
- #025
Cole Hauser and Adam Goldberg appeared in Dazed and Confused (1993).
- #026
When Professor Maurice Phipps (Laurence Fishburne), the mentor of underachieving athletes, met one-on-one with Malik Williams (Omar Epps), he told him that the bearded white man pushing buttons to control the world was not real. Fishburne went on to play Morpheus, the mentor of the successful Neo (Keanu Reeves). The bearded white man pushing the buttons, the Architect, is largely real.
- #027
Rage Against the Machine is playing when Remy has a nervous breakdown and points the gun at Malik Williams and David Isaacs.
- #028
Four years later, in Deep Blue Sea (1999), Michael Rapaport played a character trying to become an engineer who plays an engineer who graduated from Cal Tech.
- #029
It was the first Columbia Pictures film distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.
- #030
Bradford English (Officer Bradley) was in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995); Busta Rhymes (Dreads) and Tyra Banks (Deja) appeared in Halloween: Resurrection (2002). Andrew Bryniarski (Knocko) played Thomas Hewitt/Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006).
- #031
It was Trevor St. John's (James) first feature film.
- #032
Randall Batinkoff and Kristy Swanson appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992).
- #033
Jennifer Connelly and Adam Goldberg also appeared together in the television series The $treet (2000) and in A Beautiful Mind (2001).
- #034
Randall Batinkoff and Cole Hauser were both in School Ties (1992).
- #035
Remy's handgun is a laser-sighted 9x19mm second-generation Glock 17.
- #036
Three members of the main cast are left-handed: Omar Epps (Malik Williams), Kristy Swanson (Kristen Connor) and Laurence Fishburne (Professor Maurice Phipps).
- #037
The sniper rifle used at the end is a Savage Model 110.
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