15 Fun Facts About “Meet the Parents”

Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 15 Fun Facts About Meet the Parents .  Here are three of my favorites…

2. JIM CARREY CAME UP WITH THE NAME “FOCKER.”
At one point in the film’s development, Jim Carrey was set to star as Greg, with Steven Spielberg directing. It was during this back and forth that Carrey came up with the idea that the main character’s last name should be “Focker.” After Carrey and Spielberg moved on, the studio offered the project to Austin Powers director Jay Roach.

7. THE IDEA FOR THE LIE DETECTOR CAME FROM DE NIRO.
While researching a role, De Niro read up on polygraphers. He then talked about what he had read to Roach at a pre-shoot dinner. “At that point, there was no lie detector scene in the script,” Roach told Entertainment Weekly. “But after hearing all this, I thought, ‘Oh, this has to be in our movie.’ Now it’s become the central image of all the ads, the trailers, everything.” Jack Byrnes being ex-CIA was in the script from the very beginning.

14. YOU CANNOT SEE GREG’S AIRPLANE RANT ON AN AIRPLANE.
If you happen to be watching Meet the Parents on an airplane, you won’t see the airplane scene. It was cut out of the in-flight version.