Believe it or not, Steven Soderbergh's Traffic turns 20 this year. The sweeping multi-narrative tale of the drug war along the U.S./Mexico border and the lasting ramifications it has on various citizens won four Academy Awards, including wins for Best Film Editing, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor, and Director.
Starring Benicio Del Toro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Albert Finney, Don Cheadle, Erika Christensen, and more, Traffic weaves together several interrelated storylines including a U.S. Drug Czar, his crack-smoking daughter, a Mexican cop, two DEA agents, and ruthless kingpin's wife. For more ahead of the film's 20th anniversary, here are 10 facts about the making of Steven Soderbergh's Traffic.
The Movie Was Inspired By A British TV Series
Adapted by Oscar-winning scribe Stephen Gaghan, Traffic is based on a 1989 British miniseries entitled Traffik. The 6-part miniseries was directed by Alastair Reid and starred Bill Patterson, Lindsay Duncan, Jamal Shah, Tilo Pruckner, and more.
The plot of the miniseries concerned Jack Lithgow (Patterson), a British government official who attempts to install policy to curb the production of heroin in Pakistan. The drug ring extends to Germany, where an upscale businessman gets caught smuggling heroin behind his wife's back.
Wakefield' Multiple Castings
Prior to being cast as Robert Wakefield, Michael Douglas declined the role. The part was subsequently offered to Harrison Ford, who agreed to star in the film. Ford and Soderbergh worked together to flesh out the character, but then Ford suddenly pulled out of the project.
While Kevin Costner was considered for Wakefield, Douglas ultimately agreed to play the role once he saw how the character was retooled by Ford. Al Pacino and Richard Gere were also briefly considered for the role.
There Were Attempts Of On-Set Thievery
Two instances of attempted on-set robbery took place while making Traffic. The first took place when actor James Brolin returned to his vehicle following a day of filming. As he approached the car, he found two youngsters attempting to break into the vehicle. However, still dressed in military fatigues as a U.S. general, his appearance frightened the potential thieves away in a hurry.
The next incident happened while filming in Cincinnatti, where Michael Douglas pursued a purse-snatcher by chasing the thief down the street. Douglas apprehended him and held him down until the police arrived.
Catherine Zeta-Jones' Pregnancy's Changed How Her Character Was Written
While filming Traffic, Catherine Zeta-Jones was pregnant with co-star and soon-to-be husband Michael Douglas's baby. As such, the script was reworked to accommodate her pregnancy.
Originally, Zeta-Jones' character Helena Ayala was already written as a mother of two. Rather than cast someone else in the role, Gaghan and Soderbergh rewrote the script to just make Helen six months pregnant. In the film, Helen's character hires a hitman to assassinate high-ranking drug dealer Eduardo Ruiz (Miguel Ferrer), who is set to testify against her husband Carl (Steven Bauer).
Everyday Food Products Were Used For The Drug Scenes
A couple of different methods were used to simulate the onscreen drug use in Traffic. For the scenes in which the teenagers were high, the actors had peppermint dust rubbed in their faces to make their eyes and noses appear red from drug abuse. For scenes in which characters snort cocaine during the party scene, dried milk was used as a substitute.
Actor Corey Spears, who plays the character of Bowman who overdoses at the party, snorted so much dried milk on-set that he became physically ill while filming.
Wakefield's Border Crossing Was Shot In Secret
For the scene in which Wakefield ventures to the California border to discuss drug policy, the sequence was actually shot at the Tijuana crossing point. But the shot was never meant to make it into the film in the first place.
The reason the sound and video quality is so low in the scene is that it was filmed in secret without Douglas' knowledge. Once Douglas began conversing with Rudy Camacho (the then-real-life Customs chief in charge of border crossings), Soderbergh quietly began filming with a handheld camera. Douglas was speaking out of character in a normal conversation, prompting Soderbergh's hope that Camacho would not refer to Douglas by his real name and ruin the footage.
Each Major Story Had A Different Film Stock
Soderbergh deliberately used a different film stock for each of the three major storylines in Traffic. He also employed disparate post-production and editing techniques for each distinctive subplot.
For the Wakefield storyline in Ohio, a cold blue color palette was used to signify sadness and depression. In the Alaya subplot, a much brighter and sunnier use of primary colors such as red was employed to reflect Helena's lavish lifestyle. For the scenes set in Mexico, scratchier film stock was used to convey the gritty and stuffy landscapes of the country.
The White House Scenes Were Shot In The West Wing Set
All of the scenes taking place in the U.S. White House in the film were shot in the same set used for the hit TV show The West Wing.
The move was a cost-saving measure, as The West Wing set featured a nearly identical duplication of the entire White House interior and exterior. Rather than build an entire set from scratch, Soderbergh and his production team simply planned their shooting schedule to occur while the TV series was on hiatus.
A School Demanded Its Name Be Removed From The Film
In the original theatrical cut of the film, Caroline (Christensen) mentions attending a small prep school named Cincinnati Country Day. When the school took offense about being associated with a movie about drug abuse, it protested to have their name removed from the film. In the home video release of Traffic, the name is indeed removed.
In the original script, Gaghan wrote the character to make mention of Kentucky Country Day, which the writer attended when he was younger. When the city was moved to Cincinnati, the script was altered.
Traffic Led To HBO's Liberace Biopic
During a 2018 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival event, Michael Douglas confessed that the idea of playing famed Las Vegas entertainer Liberace was implanted by Soderbergh while filming Traffic.
In 2013, the suggestion not only came to fruition, but Soderbergh also directed Michael Douglas as Liberace in the highly-praised HBO movie Behind The Candelabra, named the Best Made for TV movie at the 2014 Golden Globes. Douglas also won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Awards for his portrayal, while Soderbergh earned a Primetime Emmy for Best Director. Douglas' costar Matt Damon was nominated for both honors as well.