Trivia for
Troy (2004) More at IMDbPro »

• The impending war in Iraq forced the production to move from Morocco to Baja California Sur, Mexico in February 2003.
  
  
• Many German viewers were annoyed when they realized that, in the German dubbed version, the dubbing voice of Brad Pitt was changed from his usual one (Tobias Meister) to the voice of Martin Kessler, who normally dubs Nicolas Cage. This was done on personal request from director Wolfgang Petersen.
  
  
• Diane Kruger, being a native German speaker, did the vocal dubbing for her own character Helen in the German dubbed version.
  
  
• George Camilleri, a keen bodybuilder who won the title of Mr Malta in 1989, broke his leg while filming an action sequence at Ghajn Tuffieha, Malta on 30 May 2003. He was operated on the following day but suffered complications and died on 17 June 2003.
  
  
• Brad Pitt, who plays Achilles had a mishap during the production - he tore his left achilles tendon.
  
  
• While filming in Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, the production had to deal with two hurricanes in less than a month; the last hurricane came the last week of production, when everything was pretty much wrapped.
  
  
• Warner Brothers rejected Gabriel Yared's score for the movie for being too old-fashioned.
  
  
• James Horner composed the score for the movie in less than a month and a half, whereas Gabriel Yared spent over a year on his version. In the 2007 Director's Cut Edition, Wolfgang Petersen used some parts of Yared's score and music from other films, especially from Planet of the Apes (2001), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and Starship Troopers (1997) in the fight scene between Achilles and Hector.
  
  
• Brad Pitt claimed the filming was torturous for him due to the fact that he had to quit smoking.
  
  
• Brad Pitt and Eric Bana did not use stunt doubles for their epic duel. They also made a gentlemen's agreement that they would each pay the other for every accidental hit they made. The agreed-upon amounts were $50 for each light blow and $100 for each hard blow. Pitt ended up paying $750 to Bana, who didn't owe Pitt anything.
  
  
• Brad Pitt trained for six months to get into shape for the role. He trained to have his body look like that of Greek statues.
  
  
• On set, many stagehands would faint from the 100 degree weather (38 degrees Celsius).
  
  
• Wolfgang Petersen dropped the various Greek Gods from the storyline (Zeus, etc) claiming them to be silly and unnecessary to the plot.
  
  
• After it was announced that a big production would take place on the history of Troy, the Turkish government and Ministry of Culture and Tourism had contacted with the production suggesting the filming should be done in Canakkale, Turkey, where the real Troy was. The filmmakers didn't agree. The Turkish government even offered sponsorship if the premiere was to be made on the ancient set of Troy but the premiere took place in Berlin, where most of the historical remains were displayed after being taken from Anatolia.
  
  
• The Trojan Horse made for the movie is given as a present to Turkey. It is exhibited in (real) Troy, Canakkale.
  
  
• Model 'Kemp Muhl' was considered for the role of Helen.
  
  
• One of the hurricanes that tore through the set during filming was during the night and it wiped out Brad Pitt's house. Pitt did wake up at about 4 in the morning but since he was so tired from the night before, he slept through the hurricane.
  
  
• Historians are sharply divided on the question of whether or not the Trojan War actually occurred - and if it did, which archaeological site is actually Troy. Discoveries made at the beginning of the 21st century provide new evidence of several armed battles in the right area at the right time - but definitive proof is hard to find, due largely to the historical practice of constructing one city on the ruins of another. Homer's Illiad (and other similar epics depicting the Trojan War) were written hundreds of years after the Trojan War supposedly occurred, and are of little use in determining factual historical events as they included many mythological elements: gods such as Apollo, Zeus, and Hera were central characters in the story who drastically affected the course of the war by killing and/or saving individual people during the conflict. There is also the theory that the Troy of Homer's lifetime was destroyed by a sea earthquake and that the Illiad is a symbolic reinterpretation of this event, since a horse is the symbol of the Greek god of earthquakes. The producers' decision to eliminate all mythological elements from the story gives their film an air of historical authenticity not present in the original works.
  
  
• Two biologists were employed to protect the eggs of turtles on the beaches of Mexico where filming took place.
  
  
• Wolfgang Petersen originally didn't want Helen to appear in the movie. He felt that an actress couldn't live up to the audience's expectations, but the producers insisted she appear. Petersen went with an unknown actress for the same reason.
  
  
• As Achilles strolls along the beach and among the unpacking Greeks, he teases Odysseus about being the last one to show up. This is an in-joke for those familiar with the Odyssey, which tells the story of how, due to the animosity of various gods, Odysseus was the last Greek to return home from Troy.
  
  
• When Paris is helping the citizens of Troy escape, he hands Priam's sword to a young man named Aeneas and tells him that as long as the sword is in the hands of a son of Troy, the Trojans will survive. This is an obvious reference to Virgil's epic poem, The Aeneid, which tells the story of a prince of Troy named Aeneas leading the survivors of Troy through a series of hardships before finally settling in Italy where his descendants where to found Rome 5 centuries later. However, Aeneas was the second greatest warrior the Trojans fielded during the war according to 'The Iliad', and was the son of Venus. These facts were also neglected in the movie and instead Aeneas was relegated to the role of a young boy. That boy should have been instead his son Julus, founder of the family of Caius Julius Caesar.
  
  
• Achilles shouts Hector's name nine times when he is waiting at the gates of Troy.
  
  
• Gabriel Yared's name appears as composer on trailers for the movie instead of James Horner's, who composed the score when Yared's was rejected.
  
  
• When the movie was released in Italy, instead of translating the spelling of "Troy" to the Italian/Latin equivalent (Troia), the original title was kept because. "Troia" is vulgar Italian for "sow", but is more often used for "prostitute" (it probably derives from an ancient roman dish, the "porcus troianus" or "Trojan pig", a pig stuffed with others cooked animals, a humorous reference to the Trojan horse).
  
  
• Trevor Eve's part (Velior) was cut to just two lines: "The best of Greece outnumber the best of Troy two to one," and "My prince, it's a gift to the gods."
  
  
• EASTER EGG:. On the main menu on the special features disc, keep hitting right on the control until a section of the Trojan Horse on screen lights up green and hit enter to show a series of creative animations related to the movie.
  
  
• Diane Kruger gained 15 lbs for the role of Helen.
  
  
• Garrett Hedlund gained 30 lbs for his role as Patroclus. Then gained an additional 20 lbs for his role in Friday Night Lights (2004) which got him up to 200 pounds while we would normally weigh 145.
  
  
• Terry Gilliam was offered the chance to direct the movie. He stopped reading the script 5 pages in and declined the offer.
  
  
• Achilles and Patroclus have their training inside an ancient "menhir" of Malta, dating maybe to the third Millennium B.C.
  
  
• Brendan Gleeson (Menelaus) and James Cosmo (Glaucus) played Hamish Campbell and his father in Braveheart (1995).
  
  
• During the fight when Patroclus dresses up pretending to be Achilles, it is actually Brad Pitt himself fighting in that scene so the audience would not guess it is Patroclus. Up to the point where Hector removes his helmet after cutting his throat they switch persons to Garrett Hedlund.
  
  
• Director Wolfgang Petersen left the proposed Batman Vs. Superman project to direct, and cast member Brad Pitt left The Fountain (2006).
  
  
• Brad Pitt chose to star in this movie because pre-production on The Fountain (2006) was taking longer than expected. Hugh Jackman ended up signing Pitt's role.
  
  
• Garrett Hedlund won the role of Patroclus in Troy only one month after arriving in Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.
  
  
• Keira Knightley was auditioned for an small performance in ‘Troy’. She had a screen test as the Trojan Preistess called Briseis, but finally Rose Byrne took the role.
  
  
• While Achilles and Patroclus second cousins in Homer's Iliad, there there are also hints in the poem that they may be lovers instead.
  
  
• The character Boagrius does not exist in Greek Mythology nor in any collected editions of Homer's Iliad. Boagrius was a river.
  
  
• In the Italian dubbed version, the dubbing voice of Brad Pitt was changed from his usual one (Sandro Acerbo) to the voice of Loris Loddi, who normally dubs Val Kilmer. This was done on personal request from director Wolfgang Petersen.
  
  
• We actually don't know how Achilles was immortal whether his body is impenetrable by weapons or if he is being protected by the gods but when Achilles first storms the beach he eventually throws his shield onto his back at the same time an arrow is about to hit his back implying that he is maybe actually mortal except the fact that the gods protect his entire body except for his Achilles heel.
  
  

• SPOILER: In the days of Homer, archers were not in very high esteem, as an archer did not fight his opponent on equal terms. It is interesting to note that Paris, the weakest and least brave of all, is an experienced archer, and that he kills Achilles with his arrows. Achilles, the best fighter of all, was never beaten in an open duel.
  
  
• SPOILER: This film reunites two pairs of actors who have previously played allies, but who are now enemies to one another. Brendan Gleeson (Menelaus) formerly allied with James Cosmo (Glaucus) as Hamish Cambell and his Father in Braveheart (1995). As well as Sean Bean (Odysseus) and Orlando Bloom (Paris) who allied as Boromir and Legolas in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Interestingly James Cosmo is the only actor of the four whose characters die in both films.
  
  

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