Jungle Fever

Samuel L. Jackson had just undergone treatment for drug addiction and had only two weeks between his release from rehab and the start of filming. Jackson went on record saying that Gator's haggard appearance was not makeup but the actual result of his own detoxification.

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John Turturro wrote much of his own dialogue, which Spike Lee incorporated into the script.

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According to Spike Lee's father, Bill Lee, the film is a result of Spike's anger toward Bill for marrying a white woman shortly after Spike's mother died.

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Jungle Fever was the first feature film for both Halle Berry (Vivian) and Queen Latifah (Lashawn).

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Denzel Washington was considered for the role of Flipper.

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To prepare for her role as a drug addict, Halle Berry refused to bathe for two weeks.

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The Cannes Film Festival gave its Best Supporting Actor Award specifically to honor Samuel L. Jackson. Previous recipients in the same category were Jack Thompson for Breaker Morant (1980) and Sir Ian Holm for Chariots of Fire (1981).

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The film's cast includes four Oscar winners — Halle Berry, Tim Robbins, Anthony Quinn and Spike Lee — and four Oscar nominees: Samuel L. Jackson, Brad Dourif, Queen Latifah and Ruby Dee.

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While cooking dinner for her father and brothers, Angie is seen wearing a Kearney Tigers T-shirt. The Kearney Tigers are a basketball team belonging to a popular girls' high school in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

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Marisa Tomei turned down the role of Angie Tucci because of a scheduling conflict with My Cousin Vinny (1992).

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Debi Mazar's character tells her boyfriend in the car that she wants to listen to Madonna. Mazar is a longtime friend of Madonna; she was her makeup artist before she began acting and later appeared in several of her videos, including Madonna: Papa Don't Preach (1986), Madonna: True Blue (1986) and Madonna: Music (2000). Mazar also organized Madonna's bachelorette party before she married Sean Penn.

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Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Vincent and Michael Imperioli all appear in GoodFellas (1990). All three play characters killed by Joe Pesci's character, Tommy DeVito.

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Five actors in this film — Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli, Debi Mazar and Gina Mastrogiacomo — had appeared in GoodFellas (1990), which was released a year earlier.

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Frank Vincent, Michael Imperioli and Annabella Sciorra all appear in The Sopranos (1999).

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Wesley Snipes and Theresa Randle appeared together in King of New York (1990) and starred together in Sugar Hill (1994).

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The shooting death of Gator (Samuel L. Jackson) by his father, Dr. Purify (Ossie Davis), in front of his mother (Ruby Dee) mirrors the tragic death of singer Marvin Gaye at the hands of his preacher father (Marvin Gaye Sr.) while his mother was present.

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Samuel L. Jackson and Halle Berry appeared together in Strictly Business (1991) and Losing Isaiah (1995).

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The film was among the 400 films nominated for the American Film Institute's 2002 list of the 100 greatest American love stories.

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The F-word and all its permutations are used 150 times.

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Wesley Snipes and Tyra Ferrell appear together in White Men Can't Jump (1992).

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Three actors in the cast would go on to play Marvel superheroes: Wesley Snipes later took on the role of Blade in the Blade trilogy, Halle Berry played Ororo Munroe/Storm in the X-Men film series, and Samuel L. Jackson would later play Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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The film received positive reviews, with particular praise for Samuel L. Jackson's performance as the drug addict Gator, generally considered his breakthrough role.

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The film's main music (aside from the Stevie Wonder songs) is based on composer Terence Blanchard's piece "Sing Soweto." An orchestral version of the song appears in the film's opening scene. The same orchestral version also appeared in a love scene in Spike Lee's earlier film "Mo Better Blues."

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Spike Lee initially shot a prologue dealing with racial issues, but at the urging of distributor Universal Pictures he decided to cut the "offending" scene from the $12.5 million production.

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Filming began on August 20, 1990, and wrapped in December 1990 in New York City, particularly in Harlem and Bensonhurst. Additional scenes were shot in Brooklyn's Flatlands neighborhood, in Greenwich Village, and at the San Gennaro street festival in Little Italy. The Walker Group's Manhattan offices served as the backdrop for the fictional architecture firm "Mast & Covington." While expanding the core script, a significant portion of the film's dialogue was developed during production. In a scene where "Drew" and her friends discuss Flipper's infidelity, the actresses' performances were largely improvised, creating an emotionally charged conversation that made a strong impression on critics and required three days of rehearsal and a full day to shoot.

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The Bible verse the Reverend Doctor Purify reads in his first scene is from 1 Corinthians 7:1-2: "Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband."

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Illeana Douglas appears in a scene in the film's trailer, but the scene does not appear in the final cut of the film.

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Jungle Fever (1991) is an American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, Tim Robbins, Brad Dourif, Giancarlo Esposito, Debi Mazar, Michael Imperioli and Anthony Quinn, along with Halle Berry and Queen Latifah. Jungle Fever explores the beginning and end of an extramarital interracial relationship against the urban backdrop of early 1990s New York streets. The film is dedicated to Yusuf K. Hawkins, who died on August 23, 1989.

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