FILM · 2009 · USA
Nine
42 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (42)
- #001
When the decision was made to adapt Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), securing the rights from Fellini was easy; his only condition was that neither his name nor the title 8½ be attached to it.
- #002
Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench had worked together on stage in a 1989 production of "Hamlet," as Hamlet and Gertrude. Day-Lewis became badly unnerved during one performance and abruptly left the stage, never to return. Before shooting began on this film, Day-Lewis sent Dench a note reading "I promise not to run out on you this time."
- #003
When Dame Judi Dench was cast, her agent (who also represents Sir Daniel Day-Lewis) sent her the script, and she called director Rob Marshall. In an interview, Marshall said he considered Day-Lewis the "best" actor and never thought of offering him the role because he did not believe he would accept. Day-Lewis had wanted to take a break after his last film, but said he knew making this film would be an incredible experience.
- #004
Nicole Kidman began rehearsals just four weeks after giving birth to her daughter.
- #005
Marion Cotillard auditioned for the costume designer role (which ultimately went to Dame Judi Dench) but was cast as the wife. Penélope Cruz auditioned for the film star (a role that went to Nicole Kidman) but ended up as the mistress.
- #006
The original Broadway musical opened on May 9, 1982, at the 46th Street Theatre and ran for seven hundred twenty-nine performances, with Raul Julia as Guido. It won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. The most recent Broadway production, with Antonio Banderas as Guido, opened on April 10, 2003, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and ran for two hundred eighty-three performances. It won two Tony Awards: Best Revival of a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical. Banderas turned down the chance to reprise the role of Guido in the film version.
- #007
Katie Holmes was interested in the role of Luisa. She auditioned, but director Rob Marshall felt she was not the better choice and cast Marion Cotillard instead.
- #008
After Catherine Zeta-Jones left the project, Amy Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cameron Diaz were considered for the role of Claudia.
- #009
The title song "Nine" was cut from the film.
- #010
The number "9" refers to Federico Fellini's ninth film, 8½ (1963) (he directed seven on his own and co-directed another). The number "9" also refers to Guido's age as a young boy in the flashback.
- #011
The film is set in Italy and all the characters are Italian, yet Sophia Loren is the only Italian in the main cast. Italian actors Ricky Tognazzi, Elio Germano, Giuseppe Cederna and Roberto Nobile have small roles.
- #012
Marion Cotillard said she was inspired by and drew on Eleanor Coppola for her portrayal of a woman trying to find her own identity while working with a devoted but creatively mad man. She also watched Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991), Eleanor Coppola's documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now (1979). Other inspirations for Luisa included Federico Fellini's wife, Giulietta Masina, and photographs of Audrey Hepburn gave her the big-personality hairstyle, thick bangs and ponytail.
- #013
Daniel Day-Lewis maintained his character off set, even always speaking with an Italian accent.
- #014
Before Nicole Kidman was cast as Claudia, and immediately after Catherine Zeta-Jones turned the role down, Demi Moore, Juliette Binoche, Natalie Portman and Anne Hathaway auditioned for the part.
- #015
The performance lengths of the seven women: Marion Cotillard: seventeen minutes sixteen seconds; Penélope Cruz: twelve minutes twenty-six seconds; Dame Judi Dench: 11 minutes 28 seconds; Nicole Kidman: 10 minutes 16 seconds; Kate Hudson: 8 minutes 41 seconds; Stacey Ferguson: 7 minutes 39 seconds; Sophia Loren: 4 minutes 11 seconds.
- #016
Catherine Zeta-Jones was to play Claudia but withdrew during negotiations. She wanted Claudia's role expanded. When director Rob Marshall refused, Zeta-Jones left the project.
- #017
Anne Hathaway and Sienna Miller auditioned for the role of Stephanie Necrophuros.
- #018
Sophia Loren and Marion Cotillard are the only actresses to have won the Best Actress Oscar for a foreign-language film: Loren for Two Women (1960) (Italian) and Cotillard for La Vie En Rose (2007) (French). Both also received a second Oscar nomination for another foreign-language film: Loren for Marriage Italian Style (1964) and Cotillard for Two Days, One Night (2014).
- #019
Producer Harvey Weinstein pushed Marion Cotillard for the lead actress Oscar category so that she would not compete with Penélope Cruz, who was being campaigned in the supporting actress category. The film's entire Oscar campaign favored Cruz over Cotillard. That same year Nine was released, and Cruz won the Oscar for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008), also a Weinstein Company film. Only Cruz was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Nine, while Cotillard was overlooked despite having more screen time and giving the film's most praised performance. Journalists and audiences were shocked when Cruz was nominated instead of Cotillard. The song "Take It All" was written for Cotillard and also received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Years later, Weinstein also ruined Cotillard's Oscar chances for The Immigrant (2013), one of her most acclaimed performances, after he bought the distribution rights without the director's approval and then tried to block the film's theatrical release.
- #020
Javier Bardem was set to play Guido Contini but withdrew from the role due to exhaustion. He decided to take a year off to recover, and Sir Daniel Day-Lewis was brought in to replace him. Both men won acting Oscars on the same night: Bardem in the supporting category (for No Country for Old Men (2007)) and Day-Lewis in the lead category (for There Will Be Blood (2007)), alongside Day-Lewis's co-star Marion Cotillard (Best Actress for La Vie En Rose (2007)). Catherine Zeta-Jones turned down the role of Claudia, and Nicole Kidman was brought in to replace her. Both women won acting Oscars on the same night: Zeta-Jones (for Chicago) in the supporting category and Kidman (for The Hours) in the lead category.
- #021
The character Luisa, played by Marion Cotillard, is half French and half Italian. In 8½ (1963), the character was played by the French actress Anouk Aimée. Aimée was the first actress nominated for an Oscar for a French-speaking role (A Man and a Woman (1966)), while Cotillard is the first and only actress to win an Oscar for a French-speaking role (La Vie En Rose (2007)).
- #022
Renée Zellweger was the first choice for Carla. After several auditions, Penélope Cruz took on the role.
- #023
George Clooney, Johnny Depp and Antonio Banderas (who played Guido in the 2003 Broadway revival and was nominated for a Tony Award) were considered as possible Guidios.
- #024
This is one of four films released in 2009 with the number nine in their titles. The other three are 9 (2009), $9.99 (2008) and District 9 (2009).
- #025
Daniel Day-Lewis prepared for the role by working with an accent coach to develop an Italian dialect and taking five hours of singing and dancing lessons a day.
- #026
Pre-production had to be postponed because of the writers' strike in 2007/2008.
- #027
Carla Albanese (Penélope Cruz) was based on Anna Giovannini, the longtime mistress of director Federico Fellini.
- #028
Lindsay Lohan expressed interest in a role but was rejected after the producers felt she looked "too young."
- #029
In a 2018 interview with The New Yorker, Rob Marshall explained that he made some compromises while shooting this film and that not everything on screen was exactly his ideal version.
- #030
The cast has an impressive collective Oscar history, with six winners and one nominee: Sir Daniel Day-Lewis has won three times, for My Left Foot (1989), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012), and was also nominated for In the Name of the Father (1993) and Gangs of New York (2002). Marion Cotillard won in 2008 for La Vie En Rose (2007) and was nominated for Two Days, One Night (2014). Dame Judi Dench won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1999 for her role as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and was nominated six more times in supporting and lead categories for Mrs Brown (1997), Chocolat (2000), Iris (2001), Mrs Henderson Presents (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006) and Philomena (2013). Sophia Loren won her first award in 1962 for Two Women (1960), has since been nominated once more for Marriage Italian Style (1964), and also received an Honorary Award in 1991. Nicole Kidman won for The Hours (2002) and was nominated for Moulin Rouge! (2001), Rabbit Hole (2010) and Lion (2016). Penélope Cruz won in 2009 for Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and was nominated for Volver (2006). Kate Hudson was nominated for her supporting role in Almost Famous (2000). The crew has also been recognized by the Academy: director Rob Marshall was nominated for Chicago (2002). Screenwriter Michael Tolkin was nominated for The Player (1992). Screenwriter Anthony Minghella was nominated twice for other adaptations: The English Patient (1996), for which he also won Best Director, and later The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). Cinematographer Dion Beebe was nominated for Chicago (2002) and later won for Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), both directed by Rob Marshall. Production Designer John Myhre won for Chicago (2002) and Memoirs of a Geisha (2005) and was nominated for Elizabeth (1998) and Dreamgirls (2006). Set Decorator Gordon Sim won for Chicago (2002). Makeup and Hair Designer Peter Swords King won the Best Makeup award in 2004 for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Producer Harvey Weinstein has had Oscars since Shakespeare in Love (1998) won Best Picture. He also produced Gangs of New York (2002), which was nominated for Best Picture.
- #031
Dame Judi Dench and Marion Cotillard both played Lady Macbeth. Dench on stage in the 1970s and Cotillard in the film adaptation Macbeth (2015). Both took on the role of Lady Macbeth opposite an actor who played Magneto in the X-Men film series: Dench with Sir Ian McKellen and Cotillard with Michael Fassbender.
- #032
Rob Marshall asked Emily Blunt to audition for a role, but she declined because of her fear of singing in front of an audience. She eventually overcame that fear while singing in Mary Poppins Returns, also directed by Rob Marshall.
- #033
This is the second musical directed by Rob Marshall in which Chita Rivera has appeared on Broadway. The first was Chicago (2002), in which Rivera appeared. She created the role of Velma Kelly in the 1975 Broadway premiere. She does not appear in this film, but she played Lilli in the 2003 Broadway revival of Nine.
- #034
Barbra Streisand was initially considered for the role of Lilli, and Dame Judi Dench was eventually cast.
- #035
This is Amy Bailey's debut.
- #036
Guido's license plate is "4329," a multiple of 9, the film's title.
- #037
Judi Dench and Penélope Cruz both appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011).
- #038
The film's original release date was 2 November 2009. The Weinstein Company moved it to 18 December 2009.
- #039
In a red carpet interview at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Jennifer Lopez said she auditioned for the film and came very close to joining the cast. However, her role in the film did not materialise.
- #040
Fergie gained around 17 kilos for her role.
- #041
Despite her fame as a singer, Fergie insisted on auditioning for the role. Given the film's acclaimed cast, she felt she had to prove she was right for the part.
- #042
To prepare for her role, Fergie studied Sophia Loren's performances in films such as It Started in Naples (1960) and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963). She paid particular attention to Loren's body language, makeup and portrayal of working-class Italian women.
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