FILM · 2009 · USA
The Hangover
- Directed by
- Todd Phillips
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Studio
- Legendary Pictures, Green Hat Films, Warner Bros. Pictures
59 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
When three friends finally come to after a raucous night of bachelor-party revelry, they find a baby in the closet and a tiger in the bathroom. But they can't seem to locate their best friend, Doug – who's supposed to be tying the knot. Launching a frantic search for Doug, the trio perseveres through a nasty hangover to try to make it to the church on time.
59 Interesting Facts About The Hangover
Interesting Facts (40)
- #001
No effects or prosthetics were needed for Stu's missing tooth. Ed Helms never grew one of his adult incisors, so for the scenes where Stu's tooth is gone, he simply took out his false one.
- #002
Ken Jeong's wife, Tran, was fighting breast cancer and going through chemotherapy, which was hard on the family while Ken was shooting in Las Vegas. Bradley Cooper drove Ken to Los Angeles so he could be with his wife, and invited the couple to vacation with him and his family. After the film wrapped, Ken said, "It got me through the most difficult period of my life." He also said Tran had since been declared cancer-free.
- #003
Mike Tyson has said he took the part to pay for his drug habit and that he was using a lot of cocaine while shooting his scenes. He later said that working on the film convinced him to change the way he was living.
- #004
A real stun gun was originally going to be used for the shock scene, but Warner Bros. lawyers insisted on a prop.
- #005
Ironically, Bradley Cooper doesn't drink in real life; he gave up alcohol at twenty-nine.
The Hangover (2009): Phil Wenneck, portraitImage: Wikimedia Commons · Ian Smith from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 - #006
By portraying and celebrating Las Vegas as the "ultimate guys' getaway," the film had a huge effect on Caesar's Palace and on the city itself. As late as 2013, guests were reportedly still quoting two lines from the opening scene to Caesars staff: "Did Caesar live here?" and "Do you know if the hotel is pager friendly?" Thanks to the film, Hangover-themed slot machines caught on in casinos across the Las Vegas valley, the Caesar's Palace gift shop sold tens of thousands of Hangover souvenirs, and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority fielded countless inquiries from people hoping to recreate scenes from the movie, most of them the wild ones, like those with the tiger.
- #007
Contains a major spoiler — show
On the DVD commentary, Todd Phillips says the most likely reason there's a chicken in the room is that the guys meant to feed it to the tiger.
- #008
The baby was played by three sets of twins and a puppet.
- #009
Contains a major spoiler — show
Speaking at the Toronto screening, Bradley Cooper said that "the people in Las Vegas never even noticed a movie was being filmed." He had bloody tiger scratches on his neck and Justin Bartha was beet red, yet nobody paid any attention, and people didn't even stop to take pictures.
- #010
Zach Galifianakis said he tried to stop his own mother from seeing the film, and that he yelled at parents whose kids told him they liked it.
- #011
Mike Tyson turned the film down at first, but changed his mind once he found out it was being directed by Todd Phillips, whose Old School (2003) he liked.
- #012
Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper barely knew each other before filming. Helms said he felt he helped build the rapport and chemistry between their characters, describing it as "bringing together three guys who are really different, but really appreciate each others' humor and sensibilities." Director Todd Phillips said the story of the three characters growing close also helped the three actors become friends: "When you spend fourteen hours a day together for three months, you see a lot of sides of someone. We went through hard days together, and that shared experience made us truly real friends."
The Hangover (2009): Phil WenneckImage: Wikimedia Commons · Ian Smith from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0 - #013
Ed Helms said the toughest day of the shoot was the scene where Mr. Chow crashes into their car and attacks the guys. It took many takes and hurt a lot: a few punches and kicks landed by accident, and his knees and shins got banged up when he was dragged out through the window.
- #014
Regarding the explicit shots in the final photo slideshow in which his character is seen receiving oral sex in an elevator, Zach Galifianakis confirmed that a prosthetic was used for the scene and that he was more embarrassed than anyone during its creation. "You might think I wasn't the one who was embarrassed; I was very embarrassed. I didn't even really want it to be there. I offered Todd's assistant a lot of money to convince him to cut it from the film. I offered. But he pulled it off."
- #015
Director Todd Phillips gave up his usual fee in exchange for a share of the film. Given how well it did at the box office, he told Howard Stern it was "my Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)."
- #016
The foul-mouthed band near the end of the film is the "Dan Band," which also played Frank's wedding in Old School (2003) and the Bat Mitzvah of Vince Vaughn's daughters in Starsky & Hutch (2004).
- #017
On the DVD commentary, Zach Galifianakis explains why Alan isn't allowed within 200 feet of an elementary school: he innocently tried to play with some kids, which naturally looked suspicious to a few parents. It was all just a misunderstanding.
- #018
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the MPAA green-band trailer, Ken Jeong has digitally added underwear when he jumps out of the trunk, and Bradley Cooper says "paging Dr. Douchebag" to Ed Helms instead of "paging Dr. Faggot." The same edits are used when the film airs on television.
- #019
The screenplay made the 2007 Black List, the annual list of the "most liked" scripts that haven't been produced yet.
- #020
Most of the animal scenes were shot with trained animals, and the trainers and safety gear were digitally removed afterward. A few stand-ins were also used, for instance for the tiger hidden under a sheet and wheeled on a luggage cart. For all this care, the American Humane Association gave the production an "Outstanding" rating for how the animals were monitored and treated.
- #021
Contains a major spoiler — show
The casino escalator scene is a tribute to Rain Man (1988). Alan and Phil need to win eighty thousand dollars to pay off Mr. Chow, the same amount Raymond and Charlie needed to win in Rain Man (1988).
- #022
Heather Graham said she had fun making the film but hated working in Las Vegas, calling the city "gross," "disgusting" and the "armpit of America."
- #023
According to Celena Haas, director of public relations at Caesars Palace, the characters' suite was modeled on two luxury suites in the resort's Forum Tower: a lavish penthouse and the so-called "Rain Man (1988) suite," on the 68th and 69th floors of the tower.
- #024
One of the songs in the film is Ye's "Can't Tell Me Nothing." West paid one of the film's stars, Zach Galifianakis, to make an alternate music video for it.
- #025
- #026
When Neeco, the tuxedo delivery guy, throws the rented tuxes into the guys' speeding car, the song playing is "Ride the Sky II" by Revolution Mother. Neeco is played by the band's lead singer, pro skateboarder Mike Vallely.
- #027
Bradley Cooper earned a total of $21 million for The Hangover trilogy.
- #028
The gag reel shows that a generous layer of peanut butter was smeared on Zach Galifianakis's beard to get the Labradors to lick Alan's face.
- #029
The film appears in "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die," edited by Steven Schneider.
- #030
The Hangover features background music that closely echoes Lalo Schifrin's iconic Enter the Dragon theme. It isn't the full piece, but it nods to Schifrin's distinctive martial arts mood and gives key scenes a sly, mischievous feel.
- #031
At one point Stu screams "What the fuck is going on?!" The line became a running gag for the series, and he yells it in both sequels.
- #032
At the start of the film, Phil collects $90 for a Griffith Park Observatory field trip and uses the money to fund the Vegas trip. Admission to the observatory is actually free.
- #033
Around the 8-minute mark, as Stu and Melissa sit on the couch, the railing and window frame behind them look like a cage or the bars of a prison cell, showing how trapped Stu feels in his relationship with Melissa.
- #034
In the first draft of the script, Alan was stuck in a terrible relationship, Stu was married with two daughters, and Vic (Phil's original name) was a wild party animal.
- #035
It is one of five films in which Bradley Cooper and Ken Jeong both appear: "The Hangover" trilogy, "All About Steve" and "Avengers: Endgame," although in the last one Jeong only has a small part as a security guard and never shares a scene with Cooper's character.
- #036
As the four friends hit the road, Alan (Zach Galifianakis) shouts "road trip!", a nod to Todd Phillips' Road Trip (2000).
- #037
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Stu finally yells at Melissa and dumps her, Phil can be seen smiling, proud and happy that his friend is at last standing up for himself.
- #038
When the guys first roll into Vegas, The Donnas' "Take It Off" is playing. The same song turned up in season 3, episode 10 of "Alias." Bradley Cooper, who had left that show after season 2, came back for the episode, and the song plays as his character, Will Tippin, walks into a hotel vault with Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner).
- #039
This was Alisa Allapach's first film.
- #040
When the woman in the elevator asks the baby's name, Phil (Bradley Cooper) says it's Ben. Bradley's character in "He's Just Not That Into You" is also named Ben; both films came out in 2009.
Production Story (10)
- #041
The script was inspired by something that really happened to producer Tripp Vinson, a friend of executive producer Chris Bender. Vinson went missing at his own Las Vegas bachelor party, blacked out, and woke up "in a strip club being threatened with a very, very large bill I was supposed to pay."
- #042
No effect or prosthetic was created for Stu's missing tooth. Ed Helms never grew an adult incisor, and during filming his fake incisor was removed for the scenes in which Stu's tooth is missing.
- #043
Ken Jeong's wife Tran was battling breast cancer and undergoing chemotherapy; while Ken was filming in Las Vegas, this was hard for the family. Bradley Cooper took Ken to Los Angeles so he could be with his wife. Cooper invited the couple to spend their vacation with him and his family. After the film was completed, Ken said, "It got me through the most difficult period of my life." He said Tran had been declared cancer-free.
- #044
Lindsay Lohan was offered the role of the stripper Jade but turned it down. She did not like the script and thought the film would be a bomb. The role instead went to Heather Graham. Lohan later admitted she regretted the decision.
- #045
Jack Black turned down the role of Alan, and Jonah Hill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Thomas Haden Church were considered for the role before it was largely rewritten during development.
- #046
In the scene where Phil, Stu and Alan meet Chow in the desert, you can see their car pulling up in the reflection of Chow's sunglasses.
- #047
Because the word "Hangover" could not be translated properly in some languages, the film's title was changed in several countries: * Brazil - If You Drink, Don't Get Married! * Bulgaria - The Last Bachelor Party. * Canada (French) - The Next Morning. * France - Very Bad Trip. * Latin America - What Happened Yesterday? * Russia - Bachelor Party in Vegas. * Vietnam - The Three Musketeers.
- #048
The wedding singer played by Dan Finnerty was also a wedding singer in Old School (2003), also directed by Todd Phillips.
- #049
Ed Helms (Stu), Rachael Harris (Melissa), Rob Riggle (Officer Franklin) and Matt Walsh (Dr. Valsh) appeared as correspondents on The Daily Show (1996).
- #050
Heather Graham refreshed her pole dancing skills before filming in order to portray the stripper Jade more authentically.
Behind the Scenes (4)
- #051
Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis improvised their songs, "Stu's Song" and "Three Best Friends."
- #052
During the Las Vegas shoot, one of the Mercedes (badly beaten up and easy to recognize) was stolen from the lot where the cars were parked. The next day the crew was filming driving scenes with local police holding back traffic, and someone from the production noticed that one of the stopped cars was that very distinctive Mercedes. The police were called, the driver was arrested and the car was recovered.
- #053
Contains a major spoiler — show
Ken Jeong came up with the nudity in the scene where he leaps naked out of the trunk. His character was supposed to be clothed, but Ken suggested doing it naked instead. Director Todd Phillips then had Ken sign a nudity waiver in case he later changed his mind.
- #054
Zach Galifianakis improvised the line "I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust." In the scripted version, Alan made a crude sexual remark about Stu's mother, but Zach came up with the new line for two reasons: he wanted to show that Alan knows almost nothing about the world, and he felt that if a Holocaust joke could land, it would prove the whole film was going to be funny. Everyone on set loved it (Bradley Cooper looks disgusted, but he was actually following the script, which had Phil look at Alan with contempt after the original line), and Todd Phillips said it was going in the film.
Easter Eggs & References (4)
- #055
Look closely when the police car pulls up outside Caesar's Palace: in the background, two actual employees are arguing about the shoot.
- #056
Alan's joke about not being allowed near schools or Chuck E. Cheese is a direct nod to one of the signature jokes from his stand-up: "When you look like I do, it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck E. Cheese."
- #057
When the police ask for Alan as "fat Jesus," it's a reference to Zach Galifianakis' stand-up line, "I look like a fat Jesus."
- #058
On the walk to Jade's apartment, Alan brings up Ted Danson, Magnum, P.I. (1980) and "that Jewish guy." He's thinking of Three Men and a Baby (1987); "that Jewish guy" was Steve Guttenberg.
Deeper Meaning (1)
- #059
At blackjack, Alan splits a pair of 5s, which is widely seen as a bad move. The dealer calls out the play so the pit boss can hear it, since such an unusual move suggests Alan is counting cards.
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