Sid and Nancy

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Beware the Sid Vicious diet: Gary Oldman ate a steady regimen of "steamed fish and lots of melon" to lose enough weight to portray the emaciated punk rocker - a diet that landed him in the hospital.
2. Top that, wardrobe department! To help Oldman with the authenticity of his portrayal, Sid Vicious's mom gave the actor a heavy metal chain and padlock that her son had worn in real life.
3. "I am Nancy Spungen." That's what Courtney Love said in her video audition - and while it didn't land her the role of Nancy, director Alex Cox was so impressed that he wrote a small part in the movie just for her.
4. How 'bout those extras? All five members of Guns N' Roses were cast as background players in the film, without the others' knowledge (communication is key, guys. Might wanna work on that).
5. Although Slash was the only member of GN'R to stick around for the full shoot, several other notable rockers are in the film as well - including Iggy Pop, Nico and The Circle Jerks.
6. The Circle Jerks also appeared in director Alex Cox's previous film, Repo Man, starring Emilio Estevez as a street punk who finds a new life repossessing cars. Also in that movie: an extra wearing a Sid Vicious t-shirt (foreshadowing!).
7. Joe Strummer, legendary co-founder of The Clash, contributed a significant amount of music to the film's soundtrack. But because his contract with Epic Records limited his involvement to two songs, Strummer attributed most of the work to fictitious bands. Sly, that one!
8. Always have a back-up plan: director Alex Cox's second choice to play Sid Vicious? Daniel Day-Lewis. Maybe they could have called the movie "There Will Be Punk."
9. Gary Oldman's future Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead co-star Tim Roth reportedly turned down the role of Johnny Rotten, feeling it was too soon to make a historical movie about events so recent.
10. Before becoming Sid and Nancy, the film was called Love Kills. Not, of course, to be confused with Love Stinks: The J. Geils Band Story.

Cast

Crew