Trivia for
One Hour Photo (2002) More at IMDbPro »

• James Van Der Zee was the name of an innovative photographer from New York.
  
  
• Names of other photographers also appear, including: Yoshi Araki (Nobuyoshi Araki is a very well-known Japanese photographer), Bill Owens, [Ellen] von Unwerth (a popular German photographer), [Aaron] Siskind, Paul Outerbridge.
  
  
• The hotel that Will and Maya spend their lunch breaks in is called the Edgerton. Harold Edgerton invented the high speed electronic photographic flash.
  
  
• The number "23" appears frequently throughout the movie. Catch 23 is the production company.
  
  
• The episode of "The Simpsons" (1989) that Sy watches is "Cape Feare". (Second episode of season 5)
  
  
• Robin Williams had to shave most of his arms, upper chest and hands for this movie because of his extremely hairy body.
  
  
• In preparation for his role, Robin Williams trained for two and a half days at a photo developing training facility in Southern California on an Agfa MSC 101-D photo developing machine.
  
  
• The movie Sy is watching in his apartment is The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
  
  
• The toy Jake shows Sy is indeed from Neon Genesis Evangelion, an anime series. It is called a Production Model Evangelion, is much taller than Jake says it is, and is definitely not a "good guy"; it is, in fact, one of many identical models, and is best known in the series for swarming one of the "good guys"' giant cyborgs and eating it.
  
  
• Jack Nicholson was originally offered the role of Sy, but turned it down.
  
  
• Robin Williams was originally cast as the SavMart manager, Bill (later played by Gary Cole), but after reading the screenplay for a second time, Williams requested the role of Sy.
  
  
• Andy Rolfes's character (Officer Dan Lyon) named for Danny Lyon, influential American photographer born in 1942.
  
  
• Near the beginning of the movie, as the Yorkin family is going over their set of developed photos while in their house, they are eating Chinese food and inside of an opened fortune cookie it reads "Someone wants you to be happy". Director Mark Romanek actually searched through 30 fortune cookies before he found one that related to the film and used it in the scene.
  
  
• In the first showing of the "photo wall", there are 854 photos. 29 high by 31 across minus three rows of 10, 14 and 21. At a later date the wall has 862 photos, same grid minus three rows of 2, 14 and 21.
  
  
• Several of the family photos Sy goes through at the flea market feature Mark Romanek as a boy, his parents and his aunt.
  
  
• French visa #105999.
  
  
• Robin Williams also had the surname Parrish in his lead role as Alan in _Jumanji (1994)_.
  
  
• Robin Williams often plays practical jokes in the middle of a take during the making of a film. According to producer Christine Vachon, Williams burst out of a doorway completely nude during one take for a chase scene.
  
  
• On the first meeting between Will Yorkin and Sy, we can see boxes for the video games "Bang! Gunship Elite" by Red Storm and "Age Of Empires II: The Conquerors" by Ensemble Studios.
  
  
• The Neon Genesis Evangelion action figure Jake shows Sy is actually one of the bad guys, since it is part of the EVA series 06+, sent to awaken EVA 01 and bring forth the end of the world.
  
  

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