Heathers/Trivia

• Dawson Casting: The majority of the students were played by actors in their early twenties. This is averted by Veronica and Heather Duke—Winona Ryder and Shannen Doherty were both 17. Christian Slater just about gets by, being nineteen at the time. Most of the extras are in their late 30s (look close).
• Executive Meddling: The original ending had Veronica take J.D.'s bomb and blow up herself and everyone in school, followed by a surreal sequence where everyone who died is shown in the afterlife at a prom, where everyone -- regardless of what clique they were in when they were living, if they were in a clique at all -- gets along. This was regarded as "too dark" by executives and it was changed to one where Veronica rejects J.D.'s ideals and J.D. kills himself with the bomb.
• Romance on the Set: Christian Slater and Kim Walker were dating at the time. He also briefly went out with Winona Ryder, which she said lasted only a week.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The leads were almost played by Jennifer Connelly and Brad Pitt. Connelly turned down the role to audition for Say Anything (which she lost out to Ione Skye) and Pitt lost out after Slater had a better audition. Heather Graham was also considered for one of the Heathers (McNamara?), until her mother vetoed the script due to the swearing.
  • A script for a TV version was pitched to the then-fledgling Fox Network. They had to decide between a TV adaptation of Heathers and some teen show called "Beverly Hills High" (though you might recognize it by its more popular name: Beverly Hills 90210).