Steven Spielberg’s body of work certainly speaks for itself. The amount of movies he’s made that have touches our lives, scared us, and educated us is something that may never be duplicated by any other director. But if that’s not enough, Spielberg also has an excellent ability to humor us. Perhaps no finer example of this was when he made the biographical film Catch Me if You Can in 2002. The movie was based on the real life Frank Abagnale, Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars’ worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor.
Leonardo DiCaprio played Abagnale Jr. in what was a stunning performance along with Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken. While it’s been 15 years since Catch me if You Can was made, there are still a number of things about the film that we don’t officially know. For example, did you know this film was pitched all the way back in 1981 to have Dustin Hoffman play Abagnale Jr? Pretty weird right?
Here are 12 things you didn’t know about the movie Catch me if you Can.
The story of Frank Abagnale, Jr. was first pitched in 1981 with Dustin Hoffman in the lead role.
During the kiss scene, Steven Spielberg asked Amy Adams to pretend she was starving to death and eating a cheeseburger to achieve the sloppy kiss.
The movie is about eighty percent true according to the real Frank Abagnale, Jr.
Until Frank Abagnale, Jr. saw the movie, he didn’t think DiCaprio was “suave” enough to play him.
The concrete or roads in any scene are wet, even if the shot has sunny weather.
In the film, Frank Abagnale, Jr. is on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. Frank was never actually on the list because the list is for violent criminals.
The names featured on Frank’s forged diploma were the actual signatures of the deans of both Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Dental Medicine at the time (2002).
In the scene when Frank Abagnale, Jr. is recruiting flight attendants, he calls the actresses by their real names.
Towards the end of the movie when Carl Hanratty is writing on the blackboard there’s a note at the bottom that says, “Steven and Tom’s 4th project.” Spielberg and Hanks worked on Band of Brothers (2001), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).
The real Frank Abagnale Jr. makes a cameo as a cop in the France arrest scene.
The production of the movie took place in 157 locations throughout North America.
Spielberg originally wanted Johnny Depp to play Frank Abagnale, Jr.
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