Random Behind-The-Scenes Stories From 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' (14 items)

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  (#4) Hunter S. Thompson's Real Car And Clothes Appear In The Film

  In order to completely absorb Hunter S. Thompson's aura, Johnny Depp dug through the author's closets and found his clothes from 1971. Some of the wardrobe items ended up in the movie, though as Thompson's assistant Deborah Fuller noted, "The clothes hadn't been washed in 30 years."

  Thompson also allowed Depp to drive his red Chevy convertible, the Great Red Shark, from Colorado back to Los Angeles to use in the film. Depp left at 3 am and drove with no shelter from the cold because the convertible's top wouldn't close. Luckily, Thompson packed his pal a cooler full of supplies and loaned him a few flashlights. Depp entertained himself with a portable cassette player and music mentioned in Thompson's book.
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  (#8) Johnny Depp Won A Russian Acting Award For His Performance

  Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas flopped at the box office, and critics didn't like it. USA Today said it was "simply unwatchable," and Roger Ebert called it "a horrible mess of a movie." A reviewer at The Washington Post wrote, "Watching it is like being forced to listen to bad heavy metal music turned up to 11 while fat guys in Bermuda shorts compete in a puking contest in the john."

  Director Terry Gilliam knew people had varied responses to his films and wasn't surprised by the reactions, quipping, "The good thing about it was we got a decent number of walkouts - I was worried that we might not, but we did."

  Despite this less-than-stellar response, the film did garner some good press in Russia. The Russian Guild of Film Critics voted Johnny Depp Best Foreign Actor in 1998 for his performance. 
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  (#6) Benicio del Toro's Performance Cost Him Future Job Opportunities

  In order to better resemble the fictional Dr. Gonzo, Benicio del Toro ate 16 donuts a day over an eight-week period to gain a lot of weight rapidly. "I didn't get a trainer. I did it macho style, stupid-style. I gained the weight really quick and it took a while to get it off," the actor recalled.

  After production on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas finished, del Toro struggled to find more work. He explained:

  In between work, I had meetings and people saw me and said, "Oh my God, this guy went off the rails"...

  People in Hollywood can be as gullible as anywhere. Just because they’re in the world of make-believe doesn’t mean they don’t believe it. After I tried to get a couple of jobs, the feedback I got was that people didn’t want to see me because, "We know he’s got a drinking problem..." And the only reason for that was because they had seen Fear and Loathing. Maybe it was a compliment.

  The actor managed to lose the weight, but didn't appear in a movie for another two years.
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  (#7) Hunter S. Thompson Fired A Director For Not Liking Football And Being Vegetarian

  Director Alex Cox attempted to make Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in 1996 and cast Johnny Depp as Raoul Duke. However, when Cox visited Hunter S. Thompson in Colorado during the script-writing process, he made a bad impression. Thompson discovered he didn't like Cox at all, recalling:

  I cooked my special sausage, and the ballgame was on. And... first, he hated football - he refused to watch football. And then I cooked really good sausage, which I prize, and he disdained that: vegetarian. Here in my house comes this adder, this asp. And he just persisted to insult and soil the best parts of the book. 

  The author made sure Cox stopped working on the film and accepted Terry Gilliam as director instead.
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  (#9) It Was Incredibly Difficult To Film Hunter S. Thompson's Cameo

  Hunter S. Thompson stayed at his home in Colorado during the 11 weeks of filming, though he ventured to Los Angeles to film a cameo. He appears in a club flashback and shares a glance with Johnny Depp.

  According to a Rolling Stone reporter following him that day, Thompson kicked chairs around in Depp's trailer, wailed like a child when he couldn't find his cigarettes, and drew a mustache on his face using permanent marker when he got bored. "It took the woman 20 minutes to get it off," Thompson said.

  When he was finally called to the set, the author threw grapes at director Terry Gilliam until the crew filmed three takes.
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  (#13) Oliver Stone And Martin Scorsese Failed To Turn The Book Into A Film

  Rolling Stone published the first part of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas on November 11, 1971 - one year before Thompson turned the piece into a book. Interest from Hollywood soon followed. Jack Nicholson looked into starring, and both Oliver Stone and Martin Scorsese attempted (and failed) to produce the film. One producer allegedly considered John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd for the main roles.

  Director Clive Arrowsmith shared some potential film ideas with Thompson, including how to re-create the moment when reporters become reptiles. Arrowsmith suggested, "It'll be easy - we'll just get live alligators, we'll give them some quaaludes, and we'll nail their f*cking paws to the bar."

  In the interim, Where the Buffalo Roam - an adaptation of several Thompson stories - came out. However, the movie was a critical and box office failure, "because [the subject matter] became uncool," as Thompson put it. For a while, it seemed like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas might never be made.

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