Being John Malkovich

Unspooled

Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson

Film Reviews, Tv & Film

4.6 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 April 2025

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Amy and Paul dive into the wild and inventive world of Being John Malkovich, the film that really put writer Charlie Kaufman on the map. The two discuss John Malkovich's hesitancy to join the film, how director Spike Jonze came across Kaufman's script, and that the film’s original ending involved a Harry Truman puppet. You can join the Unspooled conversation on Paul’s Discord at https://discord.gg/ZwtygZGTa6 Follow Paul and Amy on Letterboxd for more of their movie hot takes! https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/ https://letterboxd.com/theamynicholson/ Paul’s book Joyful Recollections of Trauma is out now! Find it at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/joyful-recollections-of-trauma-paul-scheer Check out more of Paul's writing on his Substack https://substack.com/@paulscheer Episodic Art by Kim Troxall: https://www.unspooledart.com/ Learn more about the show at Unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and on Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or where you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Christian Bale was preparing for his role in American Psycho,
0:04.1	dressing the part, hitting the gym for the first time in his life,
0:07.6	even getting his teeth redone.
0:09.7	There was just one problem.
0:11.8	He didn't actually have the part.
0:14.2	Leonardo DiCaprio did.
0:16.4	Listen to our podcast What Went Wrong Every Other Week
0:19.5	as we unearth the chaos behind Hollywood's biggest movie flops and most shocking successes.
0:25.3	Available wherever you get your podcasts.
0:31.7	I'm Anne Foster, host of the feminist women's history comedy podcast Vulgar History.
0:36.5	And every week I share the saga of a woman from history whose story you probably didn't
0:40.9	already know and you will never forget after you hear it.
0:43.9	Sometimes we reexamine well-known people like Cleopatra or Pocahontas, sharing the truth
0:47.7	behind their legends.
0:49.1	Sometimes we look at the scandalous women you'll never find in a history textbook.
0:52.5	If you can hear my cat purring, she is often on the podcast as well. Listen to vulgar history wherever you get your podcasts.
1:01.7	John Malkovich, fun fact, he has been nominated for two Oscars, and he's never won.
1:08.0	Unspooled Fun Fact, we have been nominated for two Webby's and you can help us win one of them.
1:13.5	We are nominated in the television and film category. One award is from the official judges.
1:18.4	You could bribe their votes with billions of dollars. Don't recommend that one.
1:22.2	Better support democracy by voting for unspooled in the Webby's People's Voice Award.
1:27.1	Head to vote.wobbyawards.com and search for Unspooled to pull up our category,
	...

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