To Live And Die in L.A.

Top 10 Fun Facts

1. Everybody Wang Chung tonight! The 80s band Wang Chung appears several times on the film's soundtrack, including the moment when Chance shows up at the topless bar (that's "Dance Hall Days" playing in the background).
2. Director William Friedkin sought extreme accuracy throughout the filmmaking process, bringing in experts from both sides of the law to offer advice about everything from police procedure to counterfeiting.
3. The crew achieved such "accuracy" in printing fake money that the cast and crew were actually worried the cops might arrest them for counterfeiting almost a million dollars' worth of fake bills.
4. After they were finished filming, the crew burned the fake money - or most of it, anyway. One crewmember's son tried to use some faux cash to buy candy at a nearby store and was caught red-handed.
5. William Petersen was reportedly half a page into his audition when the director gave him the part. In case you're not familiar with how Hollywood works, that's a REALLY good audition.
6. Petersen claimed he was drawn to the role not only because the character believed he was above the law, but because he was "above life and death, in his head."
7. Friedkin had come up with the idea of a "wrong way" car chase almost 20 years earlier when he fell asleep at the wheel on the way home from a wedding and woke up driving into oncoming traffic. Brides-to-be, please note: Red Bull makes an excellent wedding favor.
8. The car chase sequence ultimately took six weeks to shoot, and ran $1 million over budget. Although to put it into perspective, a six-week traffic jam isn't all that uncommon in Los Angeles.
9. Sections of the freeway near Wilmington, California were shut down in four-hour stretches during filming. See above, re: six-week traffic jams.
10. All that road rage turned out to be worth it: the film won a Stuntman Award for Best Feature Film Vehicular Stunt. Bet you didn't even know that was a thing.

Cast

Crew