Things You Never Knew About Goodfellas

1. The Producers Originally Wanted Tom Cruise And Madonna For The Lead Roles

Image Source / The Social ManIt's difficult to imagine now, isn't it? Tom Cruise as a Hollywood leading man perhaps wouldn't have been so bad, but paired with Madonna it seems quite random - especially since Madonna wasn't exactly a gritty leading actress of her time for a mobster movie! Madonna's ex-husband Sean Penn was also considered for the lead!

2. 70 People Walked Out Of The Preview Screenings

Image Source / Den of GeekGoodfellas is a violent movie, and this sort of mob film isn't for everybody. But it remains one of the classics, and compared to a lot of other graphic stuff out there, it's not that bad. But according to 70 people who walked out of the initial preview screening, it certainly wasn't their cup of tea.

3. And One Screening Was So Bad That The Team Had To Hide From The Audience!

Image Source / The New YorkerAnd that's not all. One of the preview screenings went down so badly that the production team actually had to hide from the audience members because they were so angry. Their chosen hiding place? A bowling alley! To add insult to injury, one of the attendees wrote 'f*** you' on a comment card. Lovely.

4. Robert De Niro Used $5000 Of Real Money Instead Of Prop Money

Image Source / The PlaylistFor a mobster movie, you're obviously going to need a lot of cash for a prop. For Robert De Niro, however, prop cash just didn't quite cut it. He didn't want the bills to feel fake, so property master Robert Griffin gave him $5000 of his own cash to use - as long as every dollar was returned to him, of course!

5. It Was Originally A Book

Image Source / WorthPointAs we all know by now, most good movies are based on a good book that came first - and this was also the case with Goodfellas. The original book, Wiseguy, by Nicholas Pileggi, was an adaption of real life events, and the movie Goodfellas was then an adaption of that!

6. And The Book Was Inspired By The Real Life Story Of Gangster Henry Hill

Image Source / WikipediaThe book (which would later become the iconic movie) was the story of the real life gangster exploits of Henry Hill, who would be played by Ray Liotta in the movie. Henry Hill was a real person, and really did go into witness protection like his character did in the movie.

7. Sorvino Improvised The Slap - Ray Liotta Didn't Know It Was Coming!

Image Source / Eighties KidsIt's always fun to re-watch a scene when you find out it was actually improvised, so no doubt you'll go back and notice the look of slight surprise (and maybe not knowing whether to laugh if you look closely?) on Ray Liotta's face. When Paulie warns Henry to stay away from drugs, the slap wasn't scripted.

8. Speaking Of Improvisation: The High 'F***' Count Of The Movie Was Mostly Just The Actors Swearing

Image Source / IMDbIt's a gangster movie, so you're obviously not going to bat an eye at the odd swear word or two. But there's no denying that Goodfellas had a significantly high f-bomb count, pretty much every other word, but this wasn't even scripted. The script called for 70 uses of the word, whereas the actors said it 300 times!

9. Scorsese Actually Played 'Layla' In The Background During The Shooting Of The Found-Body Scene

Image Source / SoundCloudOne of the most iconic sequences was the reveal of the bodies found in various circumstances, to the backing track of the piano section of Eric Clapton's 'Layla'. Usually, a movie will put the tracks over scenes already filmed, of course, but for the shooting of this sequence, Scorsese actually played the song to match the scenes together.

10. Apparently Real Mobsters Were Used As Extras

Image Source / WhatCulture.comAccording to the author of the original book, Nicholas Pileggi, some of the extras used in the movie were actually real life mobsters. This was apparently to give scenes more a 'authentic' nature. So the next time you watch the movie, you're going to be looking very differently at those guys in the background!

11. Al Pacino Turned Down The Role Of Jimmy

Image Source / EsquireWhen you think of a mobster movie, you're definitely going to think of Al Pacino, so you may have been surprised when he wasn't in it. Well, Pacino was actually offered the role of Jimmy (which went to Robert De Niro, of course) but he turned it down with the fear of being typecast.

12. The Iconic Steadicam Shot Wasn't Even Planned

Image Source / No Film SchoolThe long steadicam shot from the movie is arguably one of the greatest shots of all time, according to a lot of cinema buffs. You'd think such a masterpiece shot would have been planned, but nope - the filmmakers were forced to go in the restaurant around the back, and Scorsese decided to do this in one long shot.

13. The Film Was Originally Too Violent For MPAA's Standards

Image Source / BAMF StyleIt's a violent film as it is, so it makes you wonder how violent it was before it was actually given the appropriate rating. The MPAA has very strict guidelines for movie content. The violence of the original content was just too much, and ten frames of blood content had to be cut out to afford it an R-rating!

14. The Dinner Scene With Tommy's Mother Was Mostly Improvisation

Image Source / Entertainment WeeklyIf there's ever a great scene to try improvisation with, it's around the dinner table with some strong personalities. In the scene where the guys have dinner with Tommy's mother, Pesci and De Niro actually improvised most of the conversation - including the bit about the deer hoof.

15. Spider's Death Scene Was All Improvised, Too!

Image Source / Screen RantAnd keeping the improvisation game strong was also the death scene between Spider and Tommy. When you have such incredible actors, improvisation must come easy, and it apparently did with the conversation between the pair during this scene. The single line that was not improvised was Spider's insult to Tommy.

16. And Spider's Death Scene Actually Resulted In The Actor Going To Hospital

Image Source / Showbiz Cheat SheetYou'll remember in the scene that Spider takes quite a tumble into the bar when he's shot, and it turns out the actor actually cut his hand - understandably - on broken glass and had to go to the emergency room. The fake gunshot wounds all over his chest caused the emergency room doctors to (rightly) assume that's what he was there for!

17. The Famous 'Funny, How?' Scene Wasn't In The Script

Image Source / Screen RantThe 'Funny How?' scene is one of the most famous scenes of the movie, but can you believe it actually wasn't in the script? It was actually based on actor Pesci's own experience with a mobster, which played out pretty much how the scene in Goodfellas plays out. Because the scene wasn't in the script, the rest of the cast's shocked reactions are genuine.

18. Ray Liotta Bagged His Role Because Of A Real-Life Experience With Scorsese's Bodyguards

Image Source / Far Out MagazineBefore he was cast, Ray Liotta had wanted to talk with director Scorsese at the Venice Film Festival. But his bodyguards had other ideas. Liotta had tried to get to the director, but his bodyguards held him off. It was Liotta's calm instead of angry response that made Scorsese want to cast him as Hill.

19. Attorney Edward McDonald Was Actually Played By The Man Himself

Image Source / Film CommentAs we know, Henry and Karen meet with attorney Edward McDonald to go into witness protection at the end of the movie. But that wasn't just any old actor. It was the real attorney McDonald himself, who put the real Henry Hill into witness protection.

20. Martin Scorsese's Parents Have A Cameo Role

Image Source / RankerWhen you're a big time director, you're bound to want to put your family members in one of your movies at some point - and that's precisely what Scorsese did with Goodfellas. Catherine Scorsese plays Tommy's mother, and Charles Scorsese appears as Vinnie with the tomato sauce!

21. 27 Of The Movie's Actors Appeared In The Sopranos

Image Source / GQFans of both Goodfellas and The Sopranos would've rejoiced when seeing many familiar faces in the TV show. Lorraine Bracco has big roles in both, whilst Michael Imperioli and Frank Vincent appear, too. It makes sense to connect two huge examples of excellent mobster screen drama!

22. The Last Shot Of The Movie Is A Tribute To The Great Train Robbery

Image Source / TV OvermindIt's a great sequence when Joe Pesci turns to the camera and directs his gun right at us. This scene was actually an homage to one of the earliest films in cinema history: The Great Train Robbery. The final shot in this film sees the main character look into the camera and fire his gun 6 times. Sound familiar?

23. Judy Hill Was Played By Both Of Lorraine Bracco's Daughters

Image Source / Looking to GodIf you're the lead actress in a movie playing a mother and you have a ready-made daughter at home, why not? Judy Hill was played by not just one, but both of, Lorraine Bracco's real life daughters. This is due, of course, to Judy being shown at different ages throughout the film.

24. Scorsese Didn't Want Ray Liotta To Contact The Real-Life Hill

Image Source / The New York TimesThe real life gangster Henry Hill would have been a great character source for actor Ray Liotta, but director Scorsese apparently thought the opposite. He didn't want Ray to contact Hill because he worried he would influence the actor's performance too much.

25. Some Of The Criminal Characters Were Actually Toned Down

Image Source / GQIt's pretty terrifying to think that some of the characters you see in this movie are actually toned down versions of their real life counterparts. For example, the real Jimmy Conway - played by a scary-enough Robert De Niro - was labelled a 'homicidal maniac' by the real life Hill, responsible for 50-60 murders.

26. When Sandy Trips Meeting Henry, The Stumble Was Real

Image Source / PinterestWhen we see the character of Sandy meet Henry Hill for the first time, she trips as she walks backward out of the room. The trip was genuine by actress Debi Mazar, but Scorsese wanted to keep it in with the premise that Sandy would be in awe of Henry's power.

27. Lorraine Bracco Was Worried Her Role Would Be Cut From The Movie

Image Source / The GuardianThere's no doubt Goodfellas was obviously very male-dominated, so actress Bracco was right to be worried as the only female co-star. She admitted that she was worried her parts - if not impressive enough - would end up edited out. Scorsese disagreed, however, as he loved her character.

28. Ray Liotta Turned Down Harvey Dent In Batman To Star In Goodfellas

Image Source / VocalAnd we're glad he did! Even though there's no doubt Ray Liotta would have made a good Harvey Dent/Two-Face, with his effortless charm switching to deranged lunatic, he decided to say no to Tim Burton's Batman adaption in favour of the mob movie instead.

29. Goodfellas Won Only One Award

Image Source / The New RepublicDespite its masterful film making and its legendary status, Goodfellas has only won one award - and the award was for best supporting actor for Joe Pesci. This was also the last thing that Pesci expected, so he was caught very unprepared when accepting the award - resulting in a short 5-word acceptance speech: 'It's my privilege. Thank you.'.

30. And It Wasn't An Instant Hit

Image Source / Yardbarker.comIt's strange to think of a world where Goodfellas wouldn't be considered a powerhouse of cinema, but in fact, it took a long time for the movie to reach the status it has today. It wasn't an instant hit (as mentioned with the previews) and it took a few years to catch on. It's no surprise that it eventually did!

31. The First Scene Shot For Goodfellas Wasn’t Actually Directed By Martin Scorsese

Image Source / What Culture.comWe all know that Martin Scorsese directed the film. But, the very first scene of the film actually was not directed by him at all. The first scene was the intentionally low-budget Morrie’s Wigs commercial. So they contacted Stephen R. Pacca, who had created his own ultra low-budget ads for his replacement window company, to get him to shoot it instead.

32. In The Original Billy Died In The First Scene

Image Source / YouTubeIn the original script, the first scene showed Batts celebrating his “welcome home” party which as we know did not end well. This was then followed by the visit to Tommy’s mother, before it cut to Liotta's iconic words: “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster”. Then it cut back to Henry Hill's childhood.

33. It Was The First 1990s Film To Make The National Film Registry

Image Source / IMDbGoodfellas was the first 1990s film to make the national film registry. Goodfellas was a first in many ways for many reasons, but it was one of those films which inspired many after it. Its originality, its authenticity all contributed to its greatness.

34. It Took A While To Be Considered A Classic

Image Source / IMDbGoodfellas as we know was definitely not an immediate hit. And, although it is now considered one of the all time movie greats and a true critical classic - that was not always the case. It certainly took some time for it to start to be considered as such.

35. It Is Not The Only 1990 Henry Hill Movie

Image Source / IMDbGoodfellas was not the only Henry Hill movie in the 1990s. It seems he was a big fascination around this time. Goodfellas ends with Hill still living in witness protection. And this  is where the movie My Blue Heaven starts up from. It is a comedy movie.

36. Henry Hill Was Not Impressed With Hollywood's Pay Packets

Image Source / NPR

Henry Hill - the real Henry Hill was not exactly impressed with the Hollywood pay when he compared it to the money you earn from a criminal career. Back in those days, he would earn anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000 a week. For Goodfellas he earned around $550,000.

37. Liotta's Mother Died During Filming

Image Source / Celebrities BuzzLiotta's mother sadly died during the filming for the movie. Mary Liotta was sick when he managed to get his role in Goodfellas. He went home every weekend to spend time with her when he was not filming. He was struck by grief but used to part to immerse and distract himself.

38. Henry Hill Was Surprised To Be Alive

Image Source / The Famous PeopleThe real Henry Hill had no idea how he had managed to stay alive. After all the number one rule - “never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut” wasn't something that he had followed. He said "It's surreal, totally surreal, to be here. I never thought I'd reach this wonderful age.”

39. One Of The Actors Tried To Sue The Simpsons $250 Million

Image Source / Cartoon BrewFrank Siver (who played the ill-fated Frankie Carbone) decided to file a mega $250 million lawsuit against the The Simpsons. This is because they clearly used inspiration for the Springfield mob associate named Louie, replicating some of his looks and mannerisms.

40. Joe Pesci Delivered On Of The Shortest Oscar Speeches Ever

Image Source / Cheat sheet

Some celebrities come fully prepared with a rehearsed script for the Oscars. But not Joe Pesci. In fact, he said five words - literally - “It’s my privilege. Thank you.” He said it was because he had not expected to win, he was completely taken aback.

41. Joe Pesci's Mother Didn't Like That He Swore So Much In It

Image source: imdb.com

The F-bomb in this movie is at a high count of nearly 300 - which averages around 2 F-bombs a minute, just in case you were wondering - and funnily enough, most of those are dropped by Joe Pesci's character, Tommy DeVito. After his mother saw the film, she said she'd enjoyed it but wondered why he had to swear so much!

42. Jimmy Conway Is Based On Real Life Mobster Jimmy Burke

Image source: allthatsinteresting.com

The character that Robert De Niro plays, Jimmy Conway, is actually based on a real life gangster. Jimmy Burke, who was also known as 'The Gen', was apparently involved in the $6 million Lufthansa heist before killing 10 people. De Niro asked real life Henry Hill for how the real Jimmy acted so he could pick up tips.

43. Publishers Of The Original Book Didn't Understand The Term 'Wiseguy'

Image source: abebooks.com

When the original book that GoodFellas is based on was being pitched to publishers, Nicholas Pileggi (who wrote it) was advised that he should change the name 'Wiseguy' because they'd never heard that term before! It might sound strange now, but that term wasn't widely used or known back then.

44. Horses' Heads Were Left In Ray Liotta's Dressing Room

Image source: thehollywoodreporter.com

If you've seen The Godfather (which you probably have if you're a Goodfellas mob movie fan) then you'll know why this is a thing! Apparently Liotta's co-star Robert De Niro, as well as Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's daughter, though it would be funny to leave horses' heads in his dressing room. We're hoping fake ones, anyway...

45. Ray Liotta Would Listen To FBI Tapes Of Henry Hill On His Way To Work

Image source: thenewyorktimes.com

To help him get into character and better understand the man he was playing, Ray Liotta would spend his car journey to work every day listening to recorded tapes of FBI wiretaps made of the real Henry Hill. They must have made for very interesting and enlightening listening! The perks of being an actor to get your hands on FBI stuff.

46. There Are Loads Of Connections Between GoodFellas And The Sopranos

Image source: theguardian.com

If you're a fan of GoodFellas, you're probably a fan of The Sopranos - why wouldn't you be! They're both brilliant. The two share loads of actors who have been in both, and the creator of The Sopranos David Chase has said that the movie GoodFellas "is the Koran" to him, and it's listed as a screenwriting inspiration!

47. Scorsese Postponed GoodFellas To Make The Last Temptation Of Christ

Image source: entertainmentweekly.com

We actually could have had GoodFellas a whole lot earlier - two years earlier, in fact, if Scorsese hadn't decided to use his budget elsewhere. The Last Temptation Of Christ was Scorsese's "pet" project, so when the funding for that came through in 1987, he decided to make that instead and make GoodFellas later.

48. Top Tip: The Way That Paulie Slices Garlic Isn't Actually The Best Way

Image source: britishgq.com

One scene in the movie shows the character of Paulie using a razor blade to slice garlic. It may look cool, but in reality it isn't very practical. It will make the garlic brown quite quickly unless you put it straight in oil. If you're looking for an easier way, you can try mashing with a fork instead! Some cookbooks do actually say to slice garlic "GoodFellas thin" though!

49. The Film Only Has A Body Count Of 10!

Image source: denofgeek.com

That's right - this violent gangster flick actually only has a body count of 10. That's a whole lot less than the F-bombs dropping in this movie! It's funny how a film with a very low body count still somehow manages to be very violent with a lot of deaths. Now you need to watch again to go count the bodies and check!

50. GoodFellas Was Up Against Dances With Wolves

Image source: freerangeamerican.com

Dances With Wolves starring Kevin Costner is another legendary film, so you probably wouldn't want to be up against that in an award's category - or many categories, for that matter. But that's exactly what happened at the 1991 Oscars. GoodFellas only won one award, which went to Joe Pesci!

51. For The Film's Narration, Liotta Told The Story To The Sound Man

Image source: thetelegraph.com

Of course, we know the narration of the movie is Ray Liotta as his character telling his story, but this wasn't just the actor sat alone in front of a microphone. To record it, he told the sound guy to sit right in front of him so he could see him and tell the story directly to him as though he was actually telling the guy the story.

52. Tommy DeVito Was Based On A Real-Life Gangster: Two-Gun Tommy

Image source: reddit.com

Real life gangster Thomas 'Two-Gun Tommy' DeSimone was known for his violent temper, which Pesci definitely portrayed down to a T. Apparently the real Henry Hill said that Pesci's performance was around 99% accurate. The reason it didn't get 100% is because DeSimone was actually bigger at 6ft 2 inches and 15 stone, and his remains were never discovered (when the film says he was shot in the face).

53. The Film Has A Number Of Errors With Planes And Cars That Shouldn't Be There

Image source: internetmovieplanedatabase.com

In the scene of the movie that's captioned 'Idlewild Airport 1963', there are a couple of errors with planes and cars that won't have been invented yet! In the scene, there is a 1965 Chevy Impala, there is a Swissair jet that has been painted in the style of the 80s and a Boeing 747 can be seen overhead when they didn't start being used until 1970!

54. There Is A Scene Of Dialogue Where Billy Bat's Mouth Doesn't Sync Up

Image source: quora.com

During the movie when Billy Batts and Tommy are talking about "shoeshine" - specifically, exchanging insults - in the bar, there's a line of dialogue where he says "What?" and "Salud Tommy" - but during this scene, his lips aren't actually moving when these lines are spoken, because the dialogue is out of sync!

55. Scorsese's Parents Pressed All The Gangster's Shirt Collars

Image source: nofilmschool.com

With both of Martin Scorsese's parents appearing in the movie, they were actually on set every day - and to make themselves useful, apparently the director let them press all of the gangster's shirt collars. This wasn't just to keep them busy - it was because apparently they were the only people who knew how to do it properly!

56. The Real Henry Hill Was Removed From Witness Protection After The Movie - Because He Wouldn't Shut Up About It

Image source: wikipedia.com

The real Henry Hill was in FBI Witness Protection, of course, but after the movie came out he was apparently so proud of it that he wouldn't stop talking about the movie, and how it was actually all about him. He went around revealing his true identity to so many people that the FBI removed him from Witness Protection.

57. Paul Sorvino Almost Quit

Image source: cnn.com

Paul Sorvino, who played Paul Cicero in the movie, actually almost quit before he'd even started filming. This was because he doubted himself and thought he might actually ruin the film! He thought he was too much of a "pussycat" and "softie" that he wouldn't come across as such a hard character that was needed.

58. Young Henry And Older Henry Have Different Dominant Hands

Image source: reddit.com

The actor who played Young Henry in the movie, Christopher Serrone, is right-handed. But Ray Liotta, who of course played older Henry, is left-handed! Might not be something you pick up on, though, unless you're watching very closely and you're particularly picky about continuity like that!

59. You Can Tell Joe Pesci Is Using A Rubber Prop Knife When He Stabs Frank Vincent

Image source: entertainment.ie

Well, of course we all know it's a rubber prop and not a real knife, but the point is usually it's supposed to look like a real weapon in the movie! But during the scene when Tommy stabs Billy Batts, you can clearly see it's a prop knife with a retractable blade. This is because he stabs Billy many times, but doesn't get any blood on the knife or his hands!

60. The Scene Where Henry Hill Is Driving High Was Edited For A Specific Song

Image source: jalopnik.com

The scene where we see gangster Henry Hill driving whilst high on cocaine was actually edited by Scorsese to specifically fit a certain piece of music: Magic Bus by The Who, but the version they played Live At Leeds. The scene was edited to perfectly fit with this rendition of the song! And it worked perfectly.