Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind might be the perfect breakup movie. Movies about people falling in love are a dime a dozen, but in real life, breaking up with someone is more common than finding your soulmate, and processing a breakup is tough. The emotional catharsis that movies can provide makes breakups a fertile ground for cinematic storytelling.

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The story of a man paying a mysterious corporation to erase his ex-girlfriend from his memories is a powerful one. Gondry’s film explores both the negatives and the positives of ending a relationship. Here are 10 behind-the-scenes facts about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

The Original Script Had A Framing Narrative

carrey asleep in eternal sunshine

In an early draft of the script, there was a framing narrative in which an older Clementine comes in to have Joel erased from her memory and it’s revealed that they’ve met, fallen in love, broken up, and been erased from each other’s memories at least 15 times.

The framing narrative also involved an elderly woman — revealed to be Kirsten Dunst’s character Mary — attempting to publish a tell-all memoir about Lacuna called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Despite The Movie’s Meticulously Crafted Style, The Actors Were Allowed To Improvise

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Although it would seem like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the kind of movie that’s meticulously prepared during pre-production — and it was — Michel Gondry was more than happy to let his actors improvise on the set. The improv gave a looseness and an authenticity to the lofty visual concepts.

A lot of the dialogue between Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet arose from the two riffing in filmed rehearsals and sharing stories from real relationships and breakups in their past. Mary and Stan dancing over Joel’s unconscious body in their underwear was also unscripted.

Some Of The Film’s Alternative Titles Misled Foreign Audiences

It’s not uncommon for a Hollywood movie to be given a different title when it’s being sold to foreign audiences, either because the original title doesn’t translate or because it’s difficult to market. Unfortunately, the alternative titles for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind misled audiences.

The title of the Italian release translates as “If you leave me, I deleted you,” and the Spanish release was titled “¡Olvídate de mí!,” which translates to “Forget about me!,” so Italian and Spanish audiences were incorrectly expecting to see a comedy.

Michel Gondry Used As Few Digital Effects As Possible

Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine

A lot of scenes in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind involve bizarre visual stylings and fantastical elements, but Michel Gondry used as few digital effects in the film as possible.

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If it could be done for real — either with an old-fashioned camera trick, props, specially built sets or some creative editing or lighting — then Gondry did it for real. The breathtaking kitchen scene was achieved using a forced-perspective rig that had previously been used in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

There Was Initially Going To Be A Montage Showing People Who Wanted To Erase Traumatic Memories

Although it was eventually removed to keep the focus on Joel and Clementine, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was originally going to feature a montage showing the various reasons why people would want Lacuna to erase their memories.

These included a soldier who had seen his friend die in a warzone, and a woman who was sexually assaulted at a young age.

Ellen Pompeo Played Joel’s Ex In A Subplot That Got Cut

Meredith Grey smiling

Throughout the film, Joel makes a handful of references to his ex-girlfriend, Naomi. She was the girl he was living with when he initially met Clementine. Although Joel considers getting back together with her, we never actually see Naomi on-screen. But there was originally an entire subplot involving Naomi, including a hook-up after Joel broke up with Clementine.

All these scenes were shot, with Ellen Pompeo taking the role, but they were removed from the final cut. All that remains of Pompeo’s appearance is her voice, which is briefly heard in a phone call.

Because The Movie Was Shot Out Of Order, Kate Winslet Wore Wigs Instead Of Dyeing Her Hair

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Clementine’s hair changes color constantly throughout the movie, and the different colors are used to let the audience know at which point in her relationship with Joel a given scene is taking place. However, since the scenes were all shot out of order, it wasn’t logistical for Kate Winslet to dye her hair each of the colors.

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Instead, she wore wigs in every scene. The red one was her favorite of the bunch. Winslet also said in an interview with Empire magazine that her performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is her favorite from her career.

Mark Ruffalo And Kirsten Dunst Shot A Love Scene That Got Cut

Mark Ruffalo in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Mark Ruffalo and Kirsten Dunst shot a sex scene for this movie that was ultimately cut due to concerns about the runtime.

Dunst was heavily featured in the marketing campaign for the movie, possibly due to the success of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy in which she played Mary Jane Watson, but she actually doesn’t appear in a lot of scenes.

Nicolas Cage Was Considered To Play Joel

Raising Arizona Nicolas Cage

Before Jim Carrey got a hold of the script for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and expressed an interest in playing the role of Joel, the producers were considering Nicolas Cage (who, coincidentally, is a close personal friend of Carrey’s) for the part.

During the pre-production process, Seth Rogen auditioned to play Patrick, the Lacuna technician that was eventually played by Elijah Wood.

The Idea For The Film Originated As A Conceptual Art Experiment

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The idea for what would eventually become Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was conceived in 1998 by conceptual artist Pierre Bismuth. He mentioned the idea of erasing people from memories to Michel Gondry, who eventually directed the film, as the two had been friends since the ‘80s when Gondry was the drummer for the French pop band Oui Oui. Bismuth got the idea from a friend who was complaining about her boyfriend. He asked if, given the opportunity, she would erase him from her memories, and she said she would.

Initially, Bismuth planned to send cards to people saying that they’d been removed from a certain person’s memories, but Gondry saw the potential for a movie and they instead developed a screenplay with Charlie Kaufman.

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