FILM · 2008 · USA
Rachel Getting Married
20 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (20)
- #001
The film has no pre-recorded background score. All the music heard in the film is performed live on screen.
- #002
Childhood photographs of Anne Hathaway's younger brother Thomas were used in the film as photographs of Ethan.
- #003
The dishwasher scene was based on a real incident involving Sidney Lumet and Bob Fosse.
- #004
The film is a tribute to the late Robert Altman. Jonathan Demme was a great admirer of Altman's work.
- #005
Jenny Lumet spent about seven weeks writing the screenplay. Although it was her fifth script, it was the first of her screenplays to be made into a film.
- #006
In a 2008 interview with Dave Davies on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air, Jonathan Demme said that when he gave his mentor Roger Corman (known as a B-movie director and producer) a cameo as a guest at the wedding scene, he did not know Corman would end up shooting part of the film: "There's a moment in the film that I love very much, and I don't expect anybody else to love it. But there's a scene where the couple declare their love. And right next to them, this little handheld camera, in a magnificent suit, with a huge grin on his face, is pointed at the couple, and that's Roger Corman, to whom I had handed the camera a few seconds earlier; he didn't know he was expected to do this, and indeed we cut to Roger's shot, a gorgeous, beautifully framed photograph of the bride. He's famous for being tight-fisted; he's famous for three things: he's a perfect filmmaker in his own right; second, this emperor's third thing, he's very tight-fisted. And the thing about Roger is that if you offer Roger a minimum of a few days' work on a film for SAG, he shows up, does a great job, and leaves really thinking he somehow stuck it to the man."
- #007
The character Sidney, played by Tunde Adebimpe, was originally named Mick. Because Tunde felt a deep connection to the actor Sidney Poitier, he asked director Jonathan Demme whether they could change the name to Sidney. Demme agreed and the name was changed.
- #008
The roles of Roslyn Ruff and Sebastian Stan (as therapist and patient, respectively) were switched during production (they were originally conceived as a male therapist and a female patient). Director Jonathan Demme liked the actors' work during rehearsals and later swapped their roles.
- #009
Roger Corman had an extra scene in the film in which he gives his business card to Anne Hathaway's character so she can get legal advice.
- #010
In the DVD commentary, one of the producers explained that Anne Hathaway's emotional speech at the NA meeting was shot in a single continuous take.
- #011
The family dog that wanders through the house belongs to director Jonathan Demme. In the DVD commentary, writer Jenny Lumet said she had wanted her own dog for the role.
- #012
This was Anisa George's first film. As of 2024, it is her only film appearance.
- #013
Jonathan Demme's son Brooklyn Demme and daughter Jos Demme have cameo roles in the film.
- #014
Demme's mentor Roger Corman has a role in the film. This was the fifth and last film in which Corman appeared after Demme's Swing Shift (1984), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Philadelphia (1993) and The Manchurian Candidate (2004).
- #015
This was Brooklyn Demme's first film.
- #016
Both Anne Hathaway and Sebastian Stan later played comic-book characters in separate films. Hathaway played Catwoman/Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). Stan plays the Winter Soldier/James "Bucky" Barnes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- #017
The cast includes one Oscar winner, Anne Hathaway, and two Oscar nominees: Debra Winger and Sebastian Stan.
- #018
Debra Winger and Darrell Larson had previously appeared together in Mike's Murder (1984).
- #019
Jonathan Demme and Rosemarie DeWitt would later collaborate on the off-Broadway play Family Week.
- #020
Sebastian Stan and Anne Hathaway were both born in 1982, three months apart. Stan was born on August 13 and Hathaway on November 12.
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