Brad Pitt's '12 Monkeys' almost starred Robert De Niro; Read more trivia about the film

Directed by Terry Gillam, 12 Monkeys is a 1995 Sci-Fi thriller. The movie stars Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis and Madeleine Stowe in lead roles. The story revolves around James Cole, a convict who decides to volunteer for a mission where he has to travel back in time to learn about the reason behind the outbreak of a virulent holocaust. Did you know that Johnny Depp was considered for the role of Jeffrey Goines? Read interesting trivia here

• Johnny Depp was considered for the role of Jeffrey Goines.
• Robert De Niro turned down the role of James Cole.
• Sylvester Stallone was also considered for the role of James Cole.
• In one of the 1996 scenes, Dr Railly gives a lecture about Cassandra, the figure from Greek mythology. When the television adaption of 12 Monkeys (2015) was announced, Railly's first name was changed from Kathryn to Cassandra. 
• Terry Gilliam had a nearly fatal horse-riding accident during production. Anyway, he showed up on set heavily bruised but was more worried that the accident might disturb his work.
• The title and logo design are inspired by the 'Get off the Earth' puzzle created by Sam Loyd in 1898. It consists of 13 characters on two dials.
• Brad Pitt received his first Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Jeffrey Goines.
• The events in the film take place in 1917, 1990, 1996 and 2035.

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• Terry Gilliam's first choice for the lead role was Jeff Bridges, with whom he had enjoyed working with on The Fisher King (1991), but the studio wanted a bigger star, so Bruce Willis was recruited. The irony here is that Willis had also auditioned for The Fisher King, but lost out to Jeff Bridges. 
• Most of the actors took a pay cut just so they could get the chance to work with Terry Gilliam.
• Bruce Willis took a much lower salary than his status would normally entitle him to. This is because of budget restrictions, but mostly because he wanted to work with Terry Gilliam. It was only after the movie was released that he was paid.
• Terry Gilliam was afraid that Brad Pitt wouldn't be able to pull off the nervous, spontaneous speech. He sent him to a speech coach but in the end, he took away Pitt's cigarettes, and Pitt played the part exactly as Terry wanted.

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