Trivia for
Man on the Moon (1999) More at IMDbPro »

• Director Milos Forman could not decide between Edward Norton and Jim Carrey for the role of Andy Kaufman, and left it up to the studio which went with the more bankable Carrey.
  
  
• The set for David Letterman's current show, "Late Show with David Letterman" (1993), was used to recreate the appearance by Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler on Letterman's old show, "Late Night with David Letterman" (1982).
  
  
• Jim Carrey and Andy Kaufman were both born on January 17th.
  
  
• Two years before Man on the Moon was released, Jim Carrey sang the Mighty Mouse theme song in Liar Liar (1997). As Andy Kaufman, he sang the same song while re-creating the "Saturday Night Live" (1975) skit.
  
  
• In the scene where Andy Kaufman performs "Mighty Mouse" on "Saturday Night Live" (1975), the real Studio 8H was used, made to look as it did circa 1975.
  
  
• The title "Man on the Moon" refers to an R.E.M. song about Andy Kaufman from the album "Automatic For The People."
  
  
• The role of young Carol Kaufman (Andy's sister) was played by Andy's granddaughter, Brittany Colonna.
  
  
• Jim Carrey's ex-wife Melissa Womer has a small part as a Comedy Store waitress in the film. She is credited as Melissa Carrey.
  
  
• Lorne Michaels appears as the executive producer of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) during the infamous 1982 vote to boot Andy Kaufman from the show. In reality, Michaels had left the show in 1980, and did not return until 1985. Dick Ebersol was the executive producer at the time.
  
  
• The ring announcer in the movie who introduces the wrestling match between Jerry Lawler and Andy Kaufman is Lance Russell, one of the real-life promoters of the historical match, as well as the ring announcer and ringside commentator. The ringside commentator in the film is Jim Ross, another important figure in the wrestling world.
  
  
• It is revealed in the film that the feud between Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler was fabricated as a publicity stunt.
  
  
• 'Andy Kaufman''s congas were sold at auction and bought by Jim Carrey who is a major fan of Kaufman. Carrey used the congas as part of his audition tape for Milos Forman and they appear in the film.
  
  
• The real Lynne Margulies can be seen swaying with the crowd at Andy's funeral.
  
  
• The opening credits sequence mentioning that certain facts were changed and some events were in a different order, was written in by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski in anticipation of fickle audience members pointing out historical inaccuracies used for dramatic effect. They received numerous letters from Kaufman fans regarding "mistakes" nonetheless.
  
  
• CAMEO:(Bob Zmuda) plays "Fridays" (1980) producer Jack Burns (the man who Kaufman gets into a fight with on the show).
  
  
• When Andy is in the hall waiting to meet George Shapiro there's a poster in the hall of George Burns. Later in Shapiro's office there's a poster for Oh, God! (1977) that stars George Burns.
  
  
• Cameo: [George Shapiro] the club owner who fired Andy after singing "The Cow Goes Moo".
  
  
• The scene in the restaurant was partially based on a short film 'Andy Kaufman' did called My Breakfast with Blassie (1983).
  
  
• David Letterman refused to wear a wig, facial make-up or wardrobe to recreate his 1980s look.
  
  
• Jim Carrey refused to be called by his real name during the entire production - to get into the part, he insisted on being dealt with as Andy Kaufman at all times, on and off the set.
  
  
• The 8x10 glossy of comedian Bruce Smirnoff is clearly visible behind Carrey when he is first gigging and bombing at the Melrose Improv. Bruce was a hard luck comic who bombed for many years and finally became a successful touring professional comedian.
  
  
• During filming, a story broke out that a fight ensued between Jerry Lawler and Jim Carrey which was also played out by Lawler on "WWF Monday Night RAW" (1993) (where he commentates). The whole story was fabricated to promote the movie.
  
  
• John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, and Hank Azaria all auditioned for Andy Kaufman.
  
  
• Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 Best Pictures of 2000 (at #3).
  
  
• A man impersonating Gary Oldman discussed the project with an unsuspecting Danny DeVito for months and even submitted an audition tape to Milos Forman. The real Gary Oldman had passed the role of Kaufman months earlier, and became aware of the scam after he found his name listed as one of the actors auditioning for the part.
  
  
• Professional wrestler Glen Gilberti (a.k.a. Disco Inferno) was considered for the role of Jerry Lawler.
  
  
• The core cast of "Taxi" (1978) played themselves, with the notable exception of Danny DeVito, who was busy playing George Shapiro, and Tony Danza who did not get along with Andy Kaufman at all. When DeVito was asked who would have played his character Louie if he was playing Shapiro, he suggested that the simplest option was to simply scratch Louie from the movie.
  
  
• Jim Carrey replaced 'Edward Norton' to play Andy Kaufmann. Oddly enough, Norton used to be a guitarist in a Los Angeles gig of Courtney Love's called Hole in Two.
  
  
• Artie Lange auditioned for the role of Bob Zmuda. According to Lange, Milos Forman performed Kaufman's stand-up act and told Lange to heckle him.
  
  
• Fredd Wayne's final film.
  
  

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