Full Metal Jacket/Trivia

• Cast the Expert: R. Lee Ermey was originally just a technician on the film, there to make a couple of films to advise the actor playing the Drill Sergeant Nasty on how it should be done. Then Kubrick saw his tapes... said tapes were of Ermey performing his Drill Sergeant Nasty speeches while being constantly pelted with rotten oranges for fifteen minutes. He never stopped, flubbed, or repeated himself throughout the whole thing.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Vincent D'Onofrio gained so much weight for his role as Pvt. Gomer Pyle, that he tore ligaments in his knees during the obstacle course scene.
• Enforced Method Acting: To make the recruits' reactions to Gunnery Sgt. Hartman as realistic as possible, Stanley Kubrick made sure that R. Lee Ermey did not socialize with the actors playing recruits. They also didn't get to meet him prior to filming.
• Fake American: The gung-ho Colonel who asks Joker why does he wear a helmet that says "Born to Kill" and a peace sign is played by Canadian actor Bruce Boa.
• Fake Nationality: The actress who played the Vietnamese hooker is actually of Chinese and French descent. Arguably subverted -- a mixed-race ethnic Chinese and French bastard could easily have been found in 1960s Vietnam, and would have been a likely candidate for the sex trade in that time and place.
• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Animal Mother is just like Jayne Cobb, except with a desire to save others. He was also a Royal loyalist during The American Revolution.
  • On the other hand, Bobby Goren has never snapped as bad as Gomer Pyle, thank God.
  • Before becoming James Bond's CIA contact, Felix Leiter was a Marine journalism officer (alternate: Who knew Christian Shephard served in Vietnam?).
• Hey, It's That Voice!: After being killed by Private Pyle Gunny Hartman was aptly reincarnated as a toy army man.
• Real Life Relative: Stanley Kubrick's daughter Vivienne Kubrick composed the original music, under the pseudonym Abigail Mead (adapated from the name of the family home, Abbot's Mead).
• Star-Making Role: For R. Lee Ermey.
• Throw It In: Many of R. Lee Ermey's lines as Hartman were ad-libbed. He was one of the few actors allowed to go Off the Rails in Kubrick's films, who is known for his meticulous control of every part of the story. When filming the scene where GySgt Hartman is berating new recruits, the "reach-around" comment was tossed in by Ermey, and not originally in the script. Kubrick stopped the filming to ask what that meant. After it was explained, he laughed, and decided to include it in the final film.
  • Ermey is also a notable subversion. Kubrick disliked improvisation as it usually played hell with his shooting schedules. Ermey, in a major role for the first time and eager to impress, spent so much time with the dialogue coach that he was able to finish his scripted material in very few takes, allowing him the time necessary to throw in his own flourishes —all added to the shooting script and delivered verbatim— with Kubrick's blessing.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered for the role of Animal Mother.
  • Bruce Willis was offered a role in Full Metal Jacket, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts.