“What is the point of living in L.A. if you’re not in the movie business?”
Michael Keaton, Bruce Willis, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino all turned down the role of Chili Palmer. The studio’s first choice to direct was Quentin Tarantino. When John Travolta initially declined to be in this movie Tarantino convinced him to do it, just before backing out himself. Two years later, Tarantino directed another film based on an Elmore Leonard book, Jackie Brown (1997). Danny DeVito was director Barry Sonnenfeld’s first choice for the role of Chilli Palmer, but he couldn’t fit it into his schedule so he took the smaller role of movie star Martin Weir (Shorty). The character of Martin Weir is based on Leonard’s personal dealings with Dustin Hoffman. The character of Chili Palmer was named after a friend of Leonard’s named Ernest ‘Chili’ Palmer, who has a small role in the movie playing one of Ray Barboni’s pals. Hollywood inside jokes all taken from the book include: Miguel Sandoval who plays the Colombian drug lord, Escobar, also played a Colombian drug lord in Clear and Present Danger (1994) named Escobedo; Harry Zimm (played by Gene Hackman) tells Chili Palmer that he wants to cast Gene Hackman as the lead in his new movie; Jimmy Cap (played by Alex Rocco) appears lying on a massage table in exactly the same way he did playing casino owner Moe Green in The Godfather (1972) when he was shot through the eye; and the movie-within-a-movie ending with cameos of Harvey Keitel (known for playing tough guys) playing Ray Barboni and real-life director Penny Marshall playing an actor playing a director.
