Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind/Trivia

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Advertised Extra: Kirsten Dunst is in way less of the film than the marketing campaign made it out to be.
  • Deleted Scene: In the extended version of Mary's tape, we learn that Mierzwiak pressured Mary into having an abortion as well as a memory wipe.
  • Dawson Casting: This kind of story would conventionally employ leads in their early to mid twenties. Winslet was nearly 30 when the movie was made, and Carrey was over 40. Rather than intentionally subverting age stereotypes, the movie seems to hope you just don't notice.
    • The "alternate script" mentioned under Word of God below suggests that at some point the production might have contemplated following these characters across a longer span of time, and further into the Cynical end of the spectrum.
    • Also, Joel specifically points out how Clementine is now dating a 'young guy' (Patrick). So the movie very much acknowledges that both leads are older, and their characters may very well be in their thirties.
  • Fake American: Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson (both British) and Jim Carrey (Canadian).
  • Playing Against Type: As opposed to their usual roles, Jim Carrey plays The Comically Serious while Kate Winslet plays the Manic Pixie Dream Girl.
    • From the supporting supporting roles, Elijah Wood plays a shallow douchebag.
  • Throw It In: A scene length one. While filming in downtown Manhattan, they heard that there was a circus parade going on outside. Gondry grabbed a portable camera, and got some footage of Carrey and Winslet messing around in the crowd completely anonymous due to it being night time and since the actors were wearing winter gear. The result is one of the happier memories in the movie.
  • Word of God: In an alternative script there's an extra ending, where an older Clem goes back to Lacuna to erase Joel again, and an older Mary reveals to her that Clem and Joel have been erasing and re-erasing each other for years, always ending up back together.