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Kevin Spacey being left out of the opening credits of Se7en wasn’t a studio trick or a post-scandal edit. Rather, it was his own idea. It made no sense to most people at the time, as he had just come off The Usual Suspects and was a bigger name than Brad Pitt, who hadn’t yet become the Fight Club star everyone would later recognize.
Why Didn’t Kevin Spacey Want His Name In Se7en’s Opening Credits?
According to LadBible, this wasn’t some clever marketing strategy cooked up by New Line Cinema. In fact, they were against it. However, Spacey insisted on staying off the posters, out of the trailers, and missing from the opening credits entirely. His character, John Doe, doesn’t even appear on screen until about 90 minutes into the movie, before which he is only felt through grisly crime scenes and twisted clues.
Spacey later explained his reasoning during an appearance on the Lex Friedman podcast. He wanted audiences to be surprised, and for that, he had a simple plan. The Oscar winner removed his name from everything. He knew his character would carry more weight the moment he showed up in the film. Besides, the viewers wouldn’t be waiting for him, and they would be caught off guard when he finally appeared.
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“I had this feeling that it would be really good if I didn’t take billing in the film,” he said on the podcast. “The reason I felt was because I knew that by the time this film would come out it would be the last one of the three movies that I just shot, the fourth one, and if any of those films broke through or did well if it was going to be ‘Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey’. If you don’t show up for the first 25, 30, 40 minutes people are going to figure out who you’re playing.”
How Did New Line Cinema React To Kevin Spacey’s Idea?
New Line hated the idea and apparently told Spacey to go ‘f**k himself’. But Fincher backed it, and in the end, a deal was made where Spacey would be credited only at the end of the film. That quiet move turned out to be one of the film’s boldest choices.
Kevin Spacey Wasn’t The First Choice For John Doe
Interestingly, Spacey wasn’t even high on the casting list. David Fincher had other names in mind. The first offer reportedly went to R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, but a busy tour schedule got in the way. Another actor was then cast, but he was quietly replaced after a week of filming. Brad Pitt apparently stepped in and pushed for Spacey to take over the role in Se7en.
You can check out the trailer of Se7en below:
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