FILM · 1995 · USA
Nixon
44 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (44)
- #001
To capture the feel of Richard Nixon, Anthony Hopkins watched nearly every speech Nixon ever gave on tape several times. He also met with some people who knew Nixon and could give him insight into the man.
- #002
Oliver Stone said he voted for Richard Nixon in 1968 on the strength of his promise to end the Vietnam War.
- #003
While shooting the scene in which Richard Nixon and Jack Jones face each other, the lights were aimed directly at the coffee tables in front of the fur-covered sofa. The lights were so strong that the carpet beneath one of the tables began to smoke. Midway through the first take, an extra noticed the growing smoke and quietly murmured "fire" during a pause between lines of dialogue. James Woods (H. R. Haldeman) heard it and stopped the scene before the carpet caught fire.
- #004
When Oliver Stone saw The Remains of the Day (1993), he decided to cast Anthony Hopkins because Hopkins could convey the kind of inner conflict he was looking for.
- #005
Anthony Hopkins's casting as Richard Nixon initially drew considerable criticism. Early in the shoot, Paul Sorvino had lunch with Hopkins and offered suggestions on how Hopkins should copy Nixon's accent. This annoyed Hopkins so much that he quit the production, but writer, producer and director Oliver Stone begged him to stay on. After the film's release, Hopkins's performance won great acclaim and even earned him an Oscar nomination.
- #006
Joe Pesci turned down the role of J. Edgar Hoover.
- #007
In a rare public criticism of the company of her late father, Walt Disney — which released this film under the Hollywood Pictures label and of which she was a major shareholder — Diane Disney issued a statement shortly after the film opened expressing her extreme displeasure with it and noting that the Walt Disney Company had been involved in its release. She believed the film was malicious and biased. She also apologized personally to the Nixon family on behalf of the Disney family. The two families were close and socialized often. Mrs. Disney felt the film grossly exaggerated President Nixon's character flaws and ignored much of what she believed were his redeeming qualities.
- #008
Sam Waterston's scenes as Richard Helms were cut before the film's release, but were later restored for the videocassette and DVD versions. At the time of the film's theatrical release, Richard Helms was still alive and strongly objected to his portrayal in it.
- #009
Oliver Stone briefly considered Gene Hackman, Robin Williams, Gary Oldman and Tommy Lee Jones for the lead role.
- #010
This film used the same Oval Office set as The American President (1995).
- #011
Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Richard Nixon but turned it down.
- #012
This film was condemned by Richard Nixon's daughters.
- #013
Henry Kissinger was extremely impressed by Paul Sorvino's impression of him.
- #014
Warren Beatty suggested Joan Allen for the role of Pat Nixon. Allen was called in to read the script opposite Beatty, who was considering taking the lead role. Oliver Stone was so impressed by Allen's performance that he offered her the part.
- #015
When Richard Nixon speaks with CIA Director Richard Helms, Helms quotes William Butler Yeats, the favorite poet of Anthony Hopkins, to whom he is related.
- #016
John Malkovich was offered the role of Richard Nixon, but while he was considering it, Anthony Hopkins was cast.
- #017
Tom Hanks was offered the role of Richard Nixon but turned it down.
- #018
This is Madeline Kahn's last appearance in a major film.
- #019
Peter O'Toole was first announced for the role of Richard Helms.
- #020
The closing song, "Shenandoah" (performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir), was reportedly Nixon's favorite song, and the earlier train whistle was likely a reference to Nixon's 1968 GOP acceptance speech, in which he mentioned hearing train whistles while lying in bed as a child.
- #021
Oliver Stone played Hannah Nixon's off-screen interviewer.
- #022
James Karen worked on both this film and All the President's Men (1976). He played Bill Rogers in this film and Hugh Sloan's lawyer in All the President's Men (1976). Karen is the only cast or crew member to have worked on both films.
- #023
Oliver Stone initially wanted Ed Harris to play H. R. Haldeman.
- #024
It is one of three Oliver Stone films about an American president whose title refers to the film's subject (as of May 2019). The first was JFK (1991) (John F. Kennedy), the second was this film (Richard Nixon), and the third was W. (2008) (George W. Bush).
- #025
E. G. Marshall was born less than a year after the real John Mitchell and was eighty years old when he shot the role, older than Mitchell, who died in 1988 at the age of seventy-five.
- #026
The scene at Santa Anita Racetrack mirrors a similar scene in JFK (1991) and even nods to the earlier film, in which John Williams's JFK theme plays during scenes referring to Kennedy.
- #027
Meryl Streep was considered for the role of Pat Nixon.
- #028
Oliver Stone's spoken closing epilogue says: Richard Nixon, less than a year after the death of his beloved wife Pat, was buried and honored by five Presidents on April 26, 1994. Nixon always argued that if he had not been removed from office, the North Vietnamese could not have invaded the south in 1975. In a side show, Cambodian society was destroyed and resulted in mass genocide. In his absence, Russia and the US returned to a decade of high-budget military expansion and near-war. Pardoned by President Ford, Nixon lived long enough to write six books and travel the world as an elder statesman. For the rest of his life he fought successfully to preserve his tapes. The National Archives (America) spent fourteen years indexing and cataloging them. Sixty of the four thousand hours were released to the public.
- #029
Roy Barnitt appeared in this film as CIA Deputy Director Bob Cushman. His scenes (along with those with Sam Waterston) were cut from the final edit, but were restored in the Director's Cut VHS and DVD releases.
- #030
The cast includes two Oscar winners: Anthony Hopkins and Mary Steenburgen; and six Oscar nominees: James Woods, Ed Harris, Joan Allen, Madeline Kahn, David Paymer and Bob Hoskins.
- #031
Dan Hedaya played Richard Nixon in Dick (1999), and Saul Rubinek played Henry Kissinger in the same film. Kevin Dunn played J. Edgar Hoover in Chaplin (1992).
- #032
John Diehl played G. Gordon Liddy. The real Liddy appeared twice on Miami Vice (1984), in which Diehl played Detective Larry Zito in the first three seasons.
- #033
Boris Sichkin played Leonid Brezhnev in another Richard Nixon-themed film: The Final Days (1989).
- #034
This is the second of three Oliver Stone films featuring James Woods. The others are Salvador (1986) and Any Given Sunday (1999).
- #035
During the debate with Kennedy scene, in which the real Kennedy is shown debating the Nixon played by Anthony Hopkins, there is a brief shot of Kennedy's inauguration ceremony in which you can see the real Nixon at the far right of the frame. He was the outgoing vice president.
- #036
Richard Nixon had previously been the Vice President of Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was played by E. G. Marshall in Ike (1986) and War and Remembrance (1988).
- #037
Oliver Stone's first two choices to play Richard Nixon were Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson.
- #038
Anthony Hopkins and Joan Allen appeared in different screen adaptations of Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. Hopkins played Hannibal Lecter in Red Dragon (2002), and Allen played Reba in Manhunter (1986).
- #039
This film was released nineteen years after All the President's Men (1976).
- #040
The actors Anthony Hopkins and David Paymer were to reunite in Amistad (1997), in which Hopkins would play US President John Quincy Adams.
- #041
Edward Herrmann and Dan Hedaya later appeared in The Shaft (2001).
- #042
Kevin Dunn and Oliver Stone appeared in Dave alongside Frank Langella, who played Nixon in Frost/Nixon, and Nixon's speechwriter Ben Stein.
- #043
E. G. Marshall and Ed Harris later appeared in Absolute Power (1997).
- #044
Paul Sorvino and Tony Lo Bianco had previously appeared in Bloodbrothers (1978).
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