20 facts you might not know about Licorice Pizza

Gary Goetzman has had quite the life. These days, he’s a movie producer, and the co-founder of Playtone, Tom Hanks's production company. However, as a kid, he was an actor and had a waterbed company and a pinball arcade. As such, his life was mined by Anderson for the movie to create the character of Gary Valentine.

Evidently, in 2001, Anderson was in his native Los Angeles and walked by a middle school on picture day. He noticed a student bugging a female photographer. That stuck in his mind, giving him the germ of the idea that begins the movie — not to mention the dynamic between Gary and Alana.

In addition to being influenced by a middle school student and Gary Goetzman, Anderson was inspired by, you know, actual movies and stuff. He’s noted American Graffiti and Fast Times at Ridgemont High as influences for Licorice Pizza.

The words “Licorice Pizza” are never said in the film. That’s not a phrase that has inherent meaning to everybody. However, “Licorice Pizza” was the name of a chain of record stores in Southern California for many years. Because, you know, a record looks like a licorice pizza. Speaking of the title, Anderson said it was evocative of his childhood, noting, “It instantly takes me back to that time.”

If you think Anderson’s title is an odd choice, consider the name the movie had when it was initially announced. Back then, the working title was “Soggy Bottom.” Granted, that’s the name of the waterbed company Gary starts, but it would have been a hard sell.

Licorice Pizza is a mix of reality and fiction, though some of the fiction is more thinly veiled than others. The character of actor Jack Holden, played by Sean Penn, is at least partially inspired by William Holden. More clear is that Lucy Doolittle is a stand-in for Lucille Ball. Not only does Christine Ebersole’s character have real Lucy vibes, but she’s also in a movie called Under One Roof with Gary that seems based on Yours, Mine and Ours, which Ball starred in.

Bradley Cooper’s character of Jon Peters is very much a real person. He was a hairdresser, Barbra Streisand’s boyfriend, and a successful movie producer. He is also, by many accounts, a true lunatic. In the film, that’s certainly the case. And yet, Peters is not approached pseudonymously. Anderson got permission from Peters to include him as a character under the caveat that the character uses Peters’ favorite pickup line: Do you like peanut butter sandwiches?

Indeed, Goetzman did deliver a waterbed to Peters back in the 1970s. Fortunately for him, it went better than in the movie. Apparently, in real life, Peters was nice to Goetzman, though that would have made for a less exciting plot point in the movie.

As we said, Peters dated Streisand for a while, and it was during that time he really got into the producing game. He produced the 1976 version of A Star is Born, which costarred Streisand. Meanwhile, Cooper produced, directed, and starred in the 2018 take on A Star is Born.

John C. Reilly costars in Anderson’s first three movies: Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, and Magnolia. He makes a cameo in Licorice Pizza, but you will only notice him from his voice. Reilly is under makeup as Herman Munster, possibly playing Fred Gwynne or possibly playing a guy pretending to be Fred Gwynne at the Teen Fair.

The guy who plays Mr. Jack has a cult following as an underground comics writer and a performance artist. He collaborated with Timothy Leary and Laurie Anderson. His name? George DiCaprio. Yes, he is Leonardo DiCaprio’s father.

Anderson’s longtime partner Maya Rudolph has a small role — not the first time that’s happened in one of his movies. This time, though, he went beyond just casting Rudolph in his movie. Anderson and Rudolph’s children are in Licorice Pizza, too.

One of Anderson’s best collaborators was Philip Seymour Hoffman. Sadly, the actor is no longer with us. While the director was auditioning experienced child actors to play Gary, he found them all too “trained” and “precocious.” Ultimately, he chose Cooper Hoffman. Cooper is the son of Philip, and this is his first on-screen professional acting role. It earned him nominations from the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards.

When Anderson was writing the movie, he had Alana Haim in mind for, well, Alana. In fact, he straight-up offered her the role in 2019. This was also notable because Haim is a musician by trade, and this was her first movie role. She’s already won multiple awards from critics' groups.

Alana probably had an easy time acting as her family in the movie was her family. That’s because they were. Her sisters Este and Danielle were played by her sisters and bandmates Este and Danielle. Plus, her parents are played by her actual parents.

It probably helps to get your first big acting role if you are good friends and a frequent collaborator of the director. Anderson had previously directed a few music videos for Haim, which probably helped give him a sense of how she could handle such an opportunity.

Fittingly, Anderson shot this movie set in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s in the actual Valley. Of course, he had to get creative to try and bring back that vibe. For example, the real Tail o’ the Cōck restaurant was demolished in 1987. He had it recreated on the Van Nuys Golf Course for the movie.

Actual clips from The Carol Burnett Show are used in Licorice Pizza, and they came from Burnett personally. Anderson likely knows her to some degree, given that his dad Ernie Anderson was the announcer for the show for some time. Anderson was also the announcer for ABC and, before moving to LA, was Cleveland-based horror host Ghoulardi for a few years.

Haim put in the effort in her award-winning performance. She actually spent a week learning to drive a truck for her big set-piece. She even did her own stunt for the scene where she drives the truck backward down the hill.

Licorice Pizza has a 91-percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s getting a lot of awards love. It’s already picked up a lot of wins from critics' organizations. The National Board of Review, in particular, liked it. They gave Hoffman and Haim Best Breakthrough Performance jointly while also giving Anderson Best Director and the movie Best Picture. It was nominated for three Oscars.