10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Making Of Looper

Before stepping into the Star Wars franchise, Rian Johnson’s first sci-fi project was the 2012 thriller Looper. The film is set in the future in which a hitman (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) dispatches targets sent back in time. Things get complicated when he is faced with his own future self (Bruce Willis).

The film is a clever, exciting, and stylish adventure that effectively shows off Johnson’s filmmaking skills. It is even more impressive to watch after learning about all the interesting details that went into pulling off a complicated movie like this.

10 Development And Inspiration

Though Looper is Johnson’s third feature film, the idea for it had been percolating in his head since before his first film was ever released. The filmmaker had been collecting various ideas around the story since 2002.

Though he knew the time travel concept would have to be understood enough for audiences to get involved in the story, he wanted it to be more about the characters and their story, rather than the sci-fi idea of time travel. He also drew inspiration from a lot of different sources, like French New Wave films, as well as time travel movies, like Terminator and 12 Monkeys.

9 Young Joe’s Look

One of the most interesting aspects of the film is seeing Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play the same character. This was not easy to pull off considering the two actors only vaguely look like each other.

Given the importance of having the audience believe that Old Joe and Young Joe were the same person, Johnson briefly considered having Gordon-Levitt play both roles. However, it was Gordon-Levitt who convinced him to use an older established actor. He even recommended the makeup artist from GI Joe to help him resemble a young Bruce Willis.

8 Practical Magic

Another interesting aspect of the film is the idea that a fraction of the population developed telekinetic abilities which resulted in little more than people being able to float objects and pretend they are magic. However, the young boy Cid is shown to be extremely powerful with these gifts, floating people, and objects.

According to the director commentary, Johnson wanted to maintain a grounded feel as often as possible, so the sci-fi elements don’t distract too much from the characters. As a result, in all instances except the final scene, the floating is achieved through practical effects.

7 Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Research

In order to pull off the look of Young Joe, Gordon-Levitt required heavy prosthetics that took four hours to apply. However, Gordon-Levitt knew it would take more than that to convincing play a younger version of Willis since audiences were so familiar with the actor.

Gordon-Levitt mentioned in the commentary that he spent a lot of prep time watching as many of Willis’ older movies as he could to learn how to imitate him successfully. The hard work obviously paid off as Willis told Gordon-Levitt that he recognized some of his own mannerisms in his performance.

6 Paris Or Japan

Early in the movie, we see that young Joe is learning French. He later tells his boss Abe (Jeff Daniels) that he has been saving up his money so he can move to Paris when he retires. Abe, being from the future, advises him to go to Japan instead.

This is actually a little in-joke about the making of the film. Johnson points out on the film’s commentary that his original plan was for Joe to move to Paris, but Japanese studios offered to pay production costs to shoot in Shanghai instead.

5 Kid Blue’s Gun Skills

Noah Segan is a close friend and frequent collaborator of Rian Johnson, having appeared in all of his movies to date. In Looper, Segan plays Young Joe’s rival Kid Blue, one of the “gat men” for the criminal organization.

Kid Blue is seen throughout the film using the large pistol known as a gat gun. In his introduction, he is seen twirling the pistol around which Segan practiced and perfected. Johnson admitted on the commentary that, as impressive as those skills were, he chose to include the unscripted moment when Segan fumbles the gun as he found it funny.

4 The Diner

One of the best scenes in the film is when the two versions of Joe really meet for the first time. They go to the diner Young Joe frequents and have a tense conversation about time travel and what Old Joe has to do to protect his future.

Remarkably, Johnson revealed in the commentary that the diner was not an existing establishment but rather one that was built specifically for the film. Johnson mentioned that they would frequently be interrupted by locals looking to have a meal at the new diner.

3 Emily Blunt’s Accepted Her Role Blindly

Over the years, Emily Blunt has shown her versatility in becoming one of the best action stars in Hollywood while also being known as a talented dramatic actor. She showed off both sides of her talent in Looper as the badass yet vulnerable mother to a young boy targeted by Old Joe.

Though one of the main characters, Blunt doesn’t appear until about midway through the film. Blunt mentioned in the commentary for the film that she was so impressed with the script, she agreed after only finishing the first several pages. She wasn’t even sure which part she would be playing.

2 Jesse’s Death

When Young Joe is hiding out at Sara’s farm after going on the run, he is visited by one of the more skilled Gat Men named Jesse (played by Garrett Dillahunt). This results in a tense standoff in which Cid is injured and we see him unleash the full extent of his powers, killing Jesse.

Though it was meant to be a terrifying moment that shows what this little kid is capable of, Johnson took a unique approach to the death itself. He explains on the commentary track that he told his effects team that he wanted it to look strangely beautiful and he compared the image of Jesse dying to a rose blooming.

1 Controversial Death

It is eventually revealed that Old Joe came back in time to prevent a crime boss known as the Rainmaker from coming into power and destroying everything. In order to do this, Old Joe sets out to kill any boys born on a specific day at a specific hospital.

This leads to a powerful scene in which Old Joe kills an innocent child. According to the commentary, there was talk of them editing the scene out. But the restraint Johnson showed in the scene and the anguish it is shown to take on the character allowed him to keep it in.

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2045 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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