Did You Know?

The role of Jeffrey was originally offered to Val Kilmer, who turned it down, describing the script he read as "pornography", although he says he would've done the version that finally made it to the screen.

Robert Loggia wanted to play the role of Frank Booth.

David Lynch initially envisioned Hanna Schygulla for the role of Dorothy. When she declined, he thought of Helen Mirren for the part, before meeting model Isabella Rossellini in a New York City restaurant.

Isabella Rossellini actually was naked under her velvet robe when she did the "ritualistic rape scene", a fact that her partner Dennis Hopper was not aware of, until the cameras started rolling and his co-actor opened her legs for him to kneel between. This scene was the very first time the two of them ever worked together.

Producer Dino De Laurentiis had to set up his own distribution company, D.E.G., in order to get the film into theaters, as nobody else was willing to touch it.

A big picture of Montgomery Clift hangs in Sandy's bedroom.

David Lynch supposedly cut the film from its original four-hour running time to one frame short of two hours. Despite many searches, the missing two hours of deleted scenes were thought to be lost, until in early 2011 Lynch announced that some footage had been found. The 2011 Blu-ray release features 50 minutes of those deleted scenes. The newly found scenes include Jeffrey at a college party before his dad's heart attack where he witnesses and stops a potential date rape; a woman lighting her nipples on fire at the bar/brothel that Frank brings Dorothy and Jeffrey to; many more scenes inside the Beaumont household with the mother and aunt; Jeffrey having dinner at the Williams house; a conversation between Jeffrey and Dorothy wherein Dorothy brings Jeffrey up to the roof of her apartment followed by a lovemaking session, and many more. Numerous still photos from deleted scenes appeared on the 2002 special edition DVD release of the film, even some which do not appear on the 2011 Blu-ray. The missing scenes can also be read in the original screenplay of the film, including an original ending in which Dorothy commits suicide.

Molly Ringwald was originally offered role of Sandy, but her mother objected to her starring in it, due to the graphic content of the film. Laura Dern was cast instead.

Dean Stockwell held a worklight in the "In Dreams" sequence only after director David Lynch saw him holding one during a lighting session. He was originally supposed to hold a microphone.

Contains several references to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Jeffrey Beaumont is warned not to go to Lincoln Street, where Deep River Apartments are located. Frank Booth's name evokes John Wilkes Booth, Lincoln's assassin. Don Valens is shot through the head much the same way Lincoln was. References to Lincoln's assassination appear in Mulholland Dr., as well - the blue haired lady sits in the balcony in the same position as Lincoln did in the Ford Theater.

Isabella Rossellini claims that during the initial filming of the ritualistic rape scene, David Lynch couldn't stop laughing off-screen at the weirdness of it all. Though she was baffled as to why he was laughing at the time, Rossellini says that to this day, she herself laughs uncontrollably every time she watches that particular scene.

Dorothy Vallens's apartment is on the 7th floor. The actual filming location (Carolina Apartments in Wilmington, North Carolina) is only 6 stories high.

When Frank and his crew arrive with Jeffrey at the brothel, Frank announces, "This is it". The neon sign in the window of the brothel says, "This is it".

Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies".

In an interview, Dennis Hopper claimed that writer/director David Lynch would never say the word "fuck" during filming, he would simply point to the line in the script and say "that word". Hopper laughed, saying "He can write it, but he won't say it. He's a peculiar man." Lynch has said this isn't exactly true, but he didn't want to charge the atmosphere anymore than it already was.

Ranked #4 on Entertainment Weekly's list of the 100 Greatest Movies since 1983.

In interviews, David Lynch has told of how Dorothy's nude scene was inspired by a childhood memory of his, when he and his brother, going home from school, came across a dazed naked woman walking down the street. Lynch has said that it made him cry and left a profound impression on him.

Among the deleted scenes that appeared on a 2011 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray edition were previously unseen scenes showing Jeffrey at college before he has to come home in the aftermath of his father's stroke. In these scenes, Jeffrey has a college girlfriend (who in the official cut of the movie went totally unmentioned) who was played by Megan Mullally, an actress who many years later became famous for playing "Karen" on the sitcom Will & Grace.

David Lynch:  [highway at night]