20 Facts About 'Se7en' (Besides the Fact That it's Creepy as Hell)
![20 Facts About 'Se7en' (Besides the Fact That it's Creepy as Hell)](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/5/870305_320x180.jpg)
If you’re ever in a rut, just remember David Fincher had lost all faith in the art of making movies and was about to go back to his badass music videos after the nightmare that was Alien 3 – and then he received the script for Se7en. We would say “the rest is history,” but we just saw Se7en again, and holy smokes, David, what is wrong with you? Why are you making us write “Se7en” like an emo kid on 2003s Tumblr? But also, great film, keep up the good work, and boy, what history did you make. Se7en is an almost perfect movie, except for the fact the Sloth victim has three arms, and so we just had to remind our readers of this fact. Of the fact it is awesome, we mean, not the three arms. Okay, here: one, two, three arms.
With that said, here are 20 more facts about the Se7en. It was Fincher’s very first masterpiece, it showed the world the man’s brilliant vision, and it had its four leads at the top of their game. And yes, we know, Kevin Spacey is a major dud and Gwyneth Paltrow has exchanged a legendary acting career for grifting, like a Jordan Peterson for wealthy wine moms. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t contribute in making the movie the classic that it is. And as for Fincher, even if he would soon abandon Se7en’s gritty, slimy aesthetic for smooth camera movements and clean CGI surfaces, this movie is a good reminder of the best the decade had to offer. And you know that pang of nostalgia you just got from remembering that grungy ’90s style? Don’t worry, we got you, didn’t we say Fincher’s music videos were badass?
Therapy
![SETEN The writer was told to get therapy. Andrew Kevin Walker conceived of Se7en while trying to make it as a screenwriter in NY, and clearly having a lousy time. Не sent a draft to David Коерр, who was writing Jurassic Park back then, who replied, I think you need professional help. I thought he meant a writing teacher, Walker said. Then I realized he meant a psychiatrist. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/6/870326.jpg)
The Original Script
![The movie became a classic because of a screw-up. Unsurprisingly, the script was watered down by the studio, but David Fincher was sent the original by mistake. When they tried to clarify that they didn't want that ending, Fincher replied, the head stays in the box. SETEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/1/870321.jpg)
Alternate Endings
![S SE7EN The studio didn' t want that dark ending. Alternatives included a conventional cop thriller ending with them running to save the damsel in distress, an action movie ending with a church shoot-out, a twist in which the box contains the head of Mills' dog, and finally Somerset shooting Doe, for studio logic reasons. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/8/870308.jpg)
Brad Pitt's Support
![CRACKED.COM SETER Brad Pitt fought to keep the ending. The studio kept trying to back out on the depressing ending. Pitt used his star power to support Fincher, keep the head in the box, and having Mills shoot Doe instead of doing the right thing.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/5/870315.jpg)
Kevin Spacey
![SEVEN Kevin Spacey asked to be uncredited. Kevin Spacey is human sleaze, yes. But he can also act, and has had some good artistic ideas. If you see the opening credits for Se7en, he is nowhere to be seen. It was actually his idea not to be credited, in order to avoid spoiling the ending by giving away the actor suspiciously absent throughout the movie. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/5/870325.jpg)
Title Sequence
![The iconic title sequence was the result of studio medding. A slideshow set to Nine Inch Nails' Closer was made as a placeholder title sequence, but then studio heads said they wanted that instead of what David Fincher was planning. A modified version with the murderer's notebooks was eventually used. FFILM BY David Fincher SE CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/7/870327.jpg)
Sloth
![CRACKED.COM SEVEN The Sloth makeup was too realistic. The makeup team experimented for 11 days to give actor Michael Reid MacKay the right look. The result was so chilling that actor John С. McGinley didn't have to fake being frightened by his jump in the first take.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/3/870323.jpg)
Sequel
![CRACKED.COM SEVEN No sequel, thank you. After Se7en's success, of course the studio wanted to milk it. Apparently, Brad Pitt had no interest in a sequel. But Fincher made the point as clear as possible when he said in 2009, I would have less interest in that than I would in having cigarettes put out in my eyes.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/2/870322.jpg)
'Solace'
![CRACKED.COM SEVEN Wait, there's a sequel? The studio dusted off something called Solace, slapped Ei8ght on it, and hoped Morgan Freeman would play Somerset again, but as a psychic detective this time. The movie did end up getting made, it was indeed called Solace, and it sucked.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/4/870324.jpg)
Richmond Arquette
![SEVEN Does the delivery guy look familiar? Richmond Arquette appears as Edward Norton's doctor in Fight Club, and several other Fincher movies. And yup, he's one of the Arquette siblings. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/8/870318.jpg)
Morgan Freeman's Reaction
![SETEN Morgan Freeman nailed Somerget's reaction on the first try. They tried several reactions as Freeman opened the box. In the end they went with the very first one, as Fincher acknowledged Freeman immediately got that the first reaction would be, precisely, not knowing how to react. PLEAS HANDLE WITH FRANILE CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/6/870316.jpg)
Al Pacino
![CRACKED.COM SEVEN SETEN Al Pacino was considered for Somerset. Other actors reached out about the role were Gene Hackman and Robert Duvall. Mills could have been played by Denzel Washington and Silvester Stallone, while actors considered for the killer included Val Kilmer and R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. Finally, Christina Applegate turned down the part of Tracy.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/7/870317.jpg)
Quoting Hemingway
![The Hemingway quote was the result of a screening mess-up. Fincher's original ending was the movie fading to black right after Mills shoots Doe, leaving the audience shocked in darkness for several seconds. But a test screening turned up the lights immediately, confusing the audience instead. The studio asked Fincher for changes, so he added Somerset quoting Hemingway. SEVEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/3/870313.jpg)
Gwyneth Paltrow's head
![Gwyneth Paltrow' 's head was made, but not used. Fincher chose not to use the dummy head made by the FX crew and just rely on Morgan Freeman's reaction. Nevertheless, we have seen that head. In 2011, it was used for the autopsy of Paltrow's character in Steven Soderbergh's Contagion. SSEEEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/2/870312.jpg)
The Notebooks
![NOT the pelete hard up PASAPA The notebooks took a huge amount of work. Designed by John Sabel and Clive Piercy, John Doe's detailed notebooks cost a whopping $15,000. They got old notebooks, ripped them apart and put them together again, and filled them with crazy ramblings and gruesome crime photos. Oh, and all of this was just to figure out the character, before Fincher decided to use them for the movie's groundbreaking title sequence. SETEN GRACKED COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/2/0/870320.jpg)
7 Movies That Put Insane Work Into Details You Didn't Notice
The Color Palette
![The colors help tell the story. The colors green and red foreshadow that envy and rage will be the most important sins. Moreover, the plot leads us to believe Somerset is green with envy at Mills' life, and that Mills just sees red as a rash young man. Unconsciously, then, the twist that it was actually Doe who was jealous of Mills works even better. SETEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/9/870319.jpg)
Nine Inch Nails
![David Fincher wanted the director of NIN' sCloser to make the title sequence. A fan of the music video, Fincher suggested director Mark Romanek to do the movie's titles. But designer Kyle Cooper insisted on doing it himself. SETEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/1/870311.jpg)
Original Director
![One of the original directors left his mark (for free). Se7en was going to be directed by Ernest Dickerson, who'd later work on The Walking Dead and The Wire. Dickerson convinced the studio to show only the aftermath of the murders, not the murders themselves. They liked the idea - and then went with a bigger director. Today, Dickerson considers he saved the movie, but ruined his own chances at directing. PRiDE SETEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/4/870314.jpg)
Real-Life Injury
![Brad Pitt got injured for real. While filming a chase scene, Pitt put his arm through a windshield and severed a tendon. Не returned a few days later with stitches and a cast, the injury was written into the movie, and the scenes set prior to the chase were shot with his injured arm away from the camera. РОД SEVEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/0/9/870309.jpg)
The Paradox of the Ending
![The ending is both straightforward and complicated. Fincher calls it a double-edge sword. Mills killing John Doe allows the audience to get the vengeful bloodlust they crave, while underlining that John Doe has actually won, that the catharsis is illusory, that there aren't enough bullets ... for it ever to be even. SETEN CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/3/1/0/870310.jpg)