Dutton/PRH
Austerlitz’s book also reveals dozens of details you never knew about the now-classic film. Here are five:
The movie was almost never made at all — at least with the original title and plotFerrell and McKay wroteAnchormanafter their previous script,August Blowout, made the rounds among various Hollywood producers and studios but ultimately failed to launch. It looked, Austerlitz points out in the book, as if their next projectmight suffer the same fate. TitledAction News Man, the original script featured a plane crash, cannibalism and orangutans. There’s no doubt it would have been hilarious that way, but alas, nobody in Hollywood was willing to bankroll such an off-kilter shindig.
The script went througha lotof revisions“A good comedy is like a magic trick,” Austerlitz writes. “A great comedy is like actual magic.” But there can be a lot of rewrites before the magic happens. In the case ofAnchorman, Ferrell and McKay revised the script over and over, but it wasn’t untilJudd Apatowcame on board that they were able to tame storyline that Austerlitz called “a 9.8 on the absurdist scale.”
Apatow went on to produce the film, launching the former television creator into films that would go on to includeThe 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked UpandThis Is 40. And given that the film’s co-writers and most of its actors came from the world of improv comedy, the script itself was merely a starting point for all the wild alternative lines they routinely delivered.
The film’s stars could have been very, very differentWill Ferrell was always going to play Ron Burgundy — he and McKay had written the role for him — but everyone else had to be cast. Austerlitz reveals thatBen Stillerwas a top choice for the role of Brian Fantana, which ended up going toPaul Rudd(another contestant for the job wasBob Odenkirk).John C. Reilly, who eventually co-starred with Ferrell in 2008’sStep Brothers, was the original top choice for Champ Kind, the sportscaster, the role that eventually went to David Koechner.Choosing an actress to play Veronica Corningstone, the woman who becomes Ron Burgundy’s lover and nemesis, proved toughest of all. Austerlitz describes the lineup McKay went through in finding the right woman for the role:Leslie Mann,Amy AdamsandMaggie Gyllenhaalwere all considered, but in the end it wasChristina Applegatewho went on to embody the smart, sexy and tough Corningstone.
Christina Applegate in ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy’ (2004).Darren Michaels/Dreamworks/Apatow Prod/Kobal/Shutterstock
Darren Michaels/Dreamworks/Apatow Prod/Kobal/Shutterstock
Costume designer Debra McGuire’s sketches of ‘Anchorman’ costumes.Debra McGuire
Debra McGuire
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source: people.com
