Welcome back to Behind The Scenes Saturday!! Today is dedicated to one of my non-horror go-to films, The Wolf Of Wall Street. The Wolf Of Wall Street is a crazy film filled with stocks, sex, drugs, and violence. So, pick up the phone and start dialing, say “hi” to Rocco and Rocco, and enjoy these fun pictures and bits of trivia!!

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by google.com and IMDb.com)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• The chest beating and rhythmic humming that Mark Hanna does at lunch was completely improvised by Matthew McConaughey. This was a warm-up rite that McConaughey always did before performing. The shot of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) looking over to the side concerned was genuine. DiCaprio was looking over at the film’s director, Martin Scorsese for approval. DiCaprio later convinced them to leave the shot in.
• For the cocaine scenes, the actors actually snorted crushed B vitamins. Jonah Hill (Donnie Azoff) stated that he eventually became sick with bronchitis after so much inhaling and he had to go to the hospital.
• Eager for the opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese, Jonah Hill took a pay cut and was only paid $60,000 to be in the film.

• As Martin Scorsese encourages improvisation in his films, the majority of this film’s dialogue was improvised.
• For Naomi’s seduction scene, Martin Scorsese offered to have Margot Robbie wear a bathrobe when she entered the room. Robbie refused and insisted that her character be completely nude. Robbie later stated, “The whole point of Naomi is that her body is her only form of currency in this world. She has to be naked. She’s laying her cards on the table.” She was very nervous about doing the scene, so she ended up doing three shots of tequila beforehand. She initially lied to her family and friends and said CGI was used to put her head on a body double. She eventually came clean after the film was released.
• During a routine visit, Steven Spielberg was on set while they were filming the Steve Madden (Jake Hoffman) speech. He ended up co-directing the scene as he was giving advice to the actors and suggesting different camera angles.

• The scene where Jordan was struggling to get into his car was improvised by Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio came up with the idea for his character to open the car door with his foot. He ended up straining his back doing that little stunt, so he could only do the scene once.
• The real Jordan Belfort coached Leonardo DiCaprio on his performances, especially instructing him on how he reacted to the Quaaludes he abused and his dope-induced confrontation with Danny Porush.
• Martin Scorsese originally asked to meet with Jonah Hill to see if he was right for the role of Donnie. However, Hill insisted on auditioning for the part instead. It was the first audition he did in six years.

• While filming Jordan and Naomi’s first sex scene, the dog refused to jump on the bed. The filmmakers had to put dog food and chicken livers on Leonardo DiCaprio’s feet and between his toes to coax him.
• When Jonah Hill first tried on the prosthetic teeth he needed for his character, there was an audible lisp. In order to get rid of it, Hill spent over 2 hours on the phone calling random businesses and talking to them.
• The only problem that the real Jordan Belfort had with the film was the implication that his company, Stratton Oakmont never did any serious work. Belfort stated that they couldn’t have gotten away with their corrupt practices for so long if they hadn’t been delivering on legitimate business most of the time.

• When Naomi and Jordan had sex on a bed full of cash, the fake paper bills had sharp edges and they made multiple cuts on Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio joked that the cuts did hurt, but he didn’t care. He was in bed, naked with Robbie, so the bills weren’t what he was focused on.
• Tommy Chong was somewhat responsible for this film existing. When he was in prison, he was cellmates with Jordan Belfort. Belfort told Chong many stories from his life while they served their sentences together. Chong was the one who encouraged Belfort to write down his life story and turn it into a book. The book was later adapted to this film.
• According to Margot Robbie, much of the nursery scene was cut and if it had stayed the original length, it would’ve been the most uncomfortable scene to watch in the entire film.

• Although this was not depicted in the film, the real Mark Hanna bought 25% of Jordan Belfort’s company and worked with him for two years.
• For the deposition scenes, the only instruction that Martin Scorsese gave the actors was not to say anything important. Other than that, they had complete improvisational freedom.
• For the CPR segment, it took 70 takes just to get the ham to stick to Leonardo DiCaprio’s face. They finally got the shot right after applying K-Y jelly to the ham to get it to stick.

• Just like their characters, Jonah Hill and Jake Hoffman grew up together and were childhood friends.
• For the fish eating scene, a real fish was used with animal handlers on set to make sure no harm came to it. Jonah Hill held the fish in his mouth for 3 seconds and the fish ended up pooping in his mouth.
• To prepare for his role as Chester Ming, Kenneth Choi gained about 25 pounds.

• Jordan Belfort’s real business partner was named Danny Porush. He threatened to sue Paramount if he was depicted in this film, so they changed his name to Donnie Azoff.
• Olivia Wilde auditioned for the role of Naomi, but she was deemed “too old” to play Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife, even though she’s 10 years younger than him. Blake Lively and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley were considered for the part. Teresa Palmer and Amber Heard auditioned before Margot Robbie was cast.
• On the first day of production, Leonardo DiCaprio was holding a prop briefcase and the handle ended up breaking. This incident almost caused DiCaprio to be hit by one of the cars on set.

• Julie Andrews was considered for the part of Aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley). Eileen Atkins was also offered the role.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Chris Evans auditioned for the role of Donnie.
• Before Martin Scorsese joined on, Ridley Scott was asked to direct the film with Brad Pitt in consideration for the lead role.

• Gene Hackman was considered for the voiceover in the opening scene.
• Alan Arkin was offered the role of Max Belfort, but he turned it down to appear in the film Grudge Match.
• Mark Wahlburg was considered for the role of Jordan Belfort.

• Jordan Belfort makes a small cameo as the man who introduces Leonardo DiCaprio’s character at the end of the film.
• The scene where Brad (Jon Bernthal) punches Donnie was genuine. Bernthal actually punched Jonah Hill and made his prosthetic teeth split and fly out of his mouth. Martin Scorsese kept the camera rolling and filmed Hill’s face swelling up.
• For the masturbation scene, Jonah Hill handled a prosthetic penis. The shocked reactions from his co-stars and all of the extras were real.

• During Margot Robbie’s audition, she got so into character that she slapped Leonardo DiCaprio for real. Everyone was stunned for a moment but then they all burst out laughing. She was so afraid that he was going to sue, she was very apologetic, but he was impressed with her courage and he told her to slap him again.
• During the kissing scene between Jordan and Aunt Emma, Leonardo DiCaprio was so nervous that it ended up taking 27 takes to get it right.
• When Jordan hands the FBI agents a list of guests at his wedding, it’s actually a list of the film’s crew members.
• Martin Scorsese has a small part in the film as the voice of John, the first person who Jordan sells Aerotyne I.N.D. penny stocks to.