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Man on the Moon

Hello, my name is Andy and this is my movie.

1999 · 115 min · Comedy
7.2 Modest
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Comedy Drama History

The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.

Country of origin
🇺🇸 United States
Year
1999
Studio
Mutual Film Company · Universal Pictures · Jersey Films · Cinehaus

Trivia & behind the scenes

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Casting

Kevin Spacey, Edward Norton, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and Hank Azaria all auditioned for the role of Andy Kaufman before Jim Carrey was cast.

Casting

According to Jerry Lawler's autobiography, WCW wrestler Glenn Gilbertti (Disco Inferno) was considered for the role of Lawler in the film.

Casting

Danny DeVito, who co-starred with the real Andy Kaufman on Taxi and co-produced the film, appears in Man on the Moon but not as himself.

Filming

Jim Carrey stayed in character as Andy Kaufman on and off set for the entire production, developing unscripted tics and habits that mirrored Kaufman's real behavior.

Filming

Courtney Love recalled that Carrey would stuff his clothing with Limburger cheese while playing the Tony Clifton character, replicating something Kaufman himself used to do during his real performances.

Filming

During filming of the wrestling scenes, a real altercation broke out between Jim Carrey and Jerry Lawler after Lawler told director Miloš Forman about Carrey's demand to perform the piledriver stunt himself; Carrey spat in Lawler's face, and Lawler responded with a hair pull and a sleeper hold that left Carrey hospitalized with four compressed vertebrae.

References

A 2017 documentary titled Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond used behind-the-scenes footage to chronicle Carrey's extreme method-acting performance as Kaufman during the making of the film.

Music

The soundtrack was composed by R.E.M., whose 1992 song 'Man on the Moon,' written in honor of Kaufman, gave the film its title; the soundtrack also featured the Grammy-nominated single 'The Great Beyond,' the band's highest-charting song in the UK.

Reception

Man on the Moon ended a run of commercially successful opening weekends for Jim Carrey films, grossing only $47 million against a $52 million budget, despite Carrey winning a Golden Globe for his performance.

Memorable quotes

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I'm not a comedian. I don't wanna go for cheap laughs.

Andy Kaufman Defending his unconventional comedic philosophy.

Those are dead people laughing. You know that? Those people are dead!

Andy Kaufman Reacting to canned laughter on television.

Whoopdie doo, whoopdie die...stick a needle in your eye!

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton's absurd, vulgar persona making a crude joke.

If you guys ever go to Vegas...YOU'RE NOT GETTIN' IN!

Tony Clifton Insulting the audience with an outrageous threat.

So... ya wanna see Andy? Anybody gotta flashlight and a couple of shovels?

Tony Clifton Making a dark joke about Andy's death.

FUCK YOU! I'M NOT GOIN!

Tony Clifton Angrily refusing to cooperate.

You're insane...but you might also be brilliant.

George Shapiro Summing up Andy's contradictory nature as an artist.

You almost sat in some cottage cheese. Oh pardon me, that's your ass.

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton insulting someone's appearance with crude humor.

I've been in this business for 20 years Andy, I've seen this...I KNOW this...if you pass up an opportunity like this one, I promise you...you will NEVER see another one like it again...EVER!

George Shapiro Warning Andy about throwing away a major opportunity.

Andy, you have to look inside and ask this question: who are you trying to entertain - the audience or yourself?

George Shapiro Challenging Andy to question his true motivations.

How about a bathroom? I may of shit my pants!

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton making an embarrassingly crude joke about himself.

OK, bullshit bullshit my line, bullshit bullshit my line, AHHHHH!

Tony Clifton Tony Clifton's nonsensical, aggressive outburst.

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