16 Fun Facts About “Tootsie”

Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 16 Fun Facts About Tootsie. Here are three of my favorites…

13. IT WAS GEENA DAVIS’ FIRST MOVIE.
Davis landed the role of soap actress April Page despite never having auditioned for any other movie before. “But I didn’t know you’re only supposed to come on the days that you’re working,” Davis told The Frame. “And so I came every day for six weeks, because I thought that was just part of it. I’d get a chair and put it right next to Sydney Pollack and sit there all day.”

14. BILL MURRAY INSISTED ON NOT BEING CREDITED.
Murray’s contract stipulated that he not be given any billing for the role, and Columbia agreed not to publicize his part in the film, because Murray thought it would be a “fun practical joke”to play. Hoffman insisted on casting Murray as his playwright roommate, even though Pollackwas unfamiliar with his work. Murray improvised most of his lines.

10. POLLACK AND HOFFMAN HAD LOUD DISAGREEMENTS THROUGHOUT PRODUCTION.
The two would go to each other’s trailers, scream at one another, and then do it Pollack’s way (according to the late director). They had their biggest arguments on Mondays, because they had each separately been working on the script over the weekend.