20 facts you might not know about 'The Shape of Water'

Del Toro directed and cowrote (with Vanessa Taylor) this film, and it stems back to his childhood. A longtime fan of monster movies, del Toro remembered watching the classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. However, he wished that Gill-Man (a.k.a. the creature) and the lead female character Kay Lawrence had been able to get together. That served as the seed from which The Shape of Water grew.

Evidently, there was a time when Universal was hoping del Toro would in fact direct a remake of Creature of the Black Lagoon. He took this opportunity to pitch them on his idea of a love story between Gill-Man and the female lead. Universal politely declined this concept.

Del Toro wanted to address modern themes and current issues with The Shape of Water. However, he decided to set his film in 1962. By doing this, the director hoped to create a movie that could be a “fairytale” that allowed people to get lost in the story, since it wasn’t set in the present day.

For the part of Elisa, del Toro had one actress in mind: Sally Hawkins. In fact, he even wrote the film with her in mind for the main character. Both del Toro and Hawkins were at the 2014 Golden Globes, and with some liquid courage flowing through him, del Toro approached the actor to tell her that he wanted her for this film.

Elisa is mute, and thus Hawkins could not communicate what her character was feeling with her words or her voice. To prepare for the role, Hawkins watched actors like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin — silent stars who also couldn’t use to their voices to express themselves. In particular, del Toro recommended she watch Stan Laurel for inspiration.

Del Toro is a big fan of the work of Doug Jones. You’ve likely see Jones’ work, though you may have never seen his face. Jones is one of those actors hired for his physicality, often hidden behind makeup and costumes. However, del Toro has implemented Jones' particular skills many time over. He has roles in Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth, Crimson Peak, and other del Toro films.

Jones was worried about being a romantic lead, but he also had to worry about the physical portrayal of the Amphibian Man, which is his bread and butter. The actor wanted to embody a creature who didn’t move like any creature he had seen in movies before. To prepare, Jones went to a dance studio and worked on his movements. Ultimately, Jones was inspired by matadors for his physicality.

For the part of Elisa’s neighbor and friend Giles, del Toro was hoping to get Ian McKellen. This was in part because McKellen had played James Whale in Gods and Monsters, and Whale directed horror classics like Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Additionally, Whale was a closeted gay man, like Giles. When McKellen was unavailable, del Toro turned to Richard Jenkins.

Shannon was excited to take the role of Richard Strickland after talking to del Toro. What hooked him about their conversation was that del Toro framed Strickland by saying if The Shape of Water had been made in the 1950s, he would have been the main character and the hero. That idea intrigued Shannon enough to sign on.

While The Shape of Water is set in Baltimore, Maryland, they shot the movie in Ontario, Canada. One key location in the film is actually a combination of two Toronto buildings. The inside of the Orpheum, the movie theater in the film, is the inside of the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres. The exterior, though, is Massey Hall.

The director wasn’t sure if he wanted to make a color film or a black-and-white movie. As a throwback film that in a lot of ways pays homage to Creature from the Black Lagoon, black-and-white would have made sense. Fox Searchlight made del Toro an offer. He could shoot the movie in black-and-white with a $17 million budget, or shoot in color with a $20 million budget. Ultimately, del Toro opted for color.

The Shape of Water had its premiere in competition at the Venice International Film Festival, probably only second to Cannes when it comes to film festivals. It was a big success there. In fact, the movie won the Golden Lion, which Venice gives to the best film in the competition.

Made for $20 million (as we noted), The Shape of Water proved a strong return on investment. The film made $63.9 in the United States and Canada alone, and made $195.2 million worldwide. Although, a good chunk of that was an Oscar boost.

The Shape of Water is in many ways a throwback movie, and it has a hint of the “love letter to Hollywood” to it. The Academy has a history of eating that up — shout out to The Artist — and this was no different. The movie got a whopping 13 Oscar nominations. Only three films have ever gotten more, and they all got exactly 14.

Out of those 13 nominations, The Shape of Water won four. They were all pretty impressive categories, too. It won for Best Production Design and Best Original Score, but it also took home arguably the two biggest awards there are. Del Toro won for Best Director, and the movie took home Best Picture.

The Shape of Water was accused of plagiarism on multiple fronts. French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the director of Amelie among other movies, accused del Toro of ripping him off. There were also accusations that the movie plagiarized the 1962 Soviet film Amphibian Man. One instance was litigious, though. The estate of late author Paul Zindel filed a lawsuit claiming the film plagiarized Zindel’s teleplay Let Me Hear You Whisper. The suit was dismissed later the same year, and in 2021, Zindel’s estate acknowledged that The Shape of Water was not plagiarized.

Del Toro really did his work on his characters for The Shape of Water. He wrote lengthy backstories for all the main characters. Like, over 40 pages. Del Toro then gave them to the actors, telling them to use them as they saw fit. Reportedly, Michael Stuhlbarg made a lot of use of the intel, while Jenkins didn’t use his at all.

Hawkins was shooting underwater scenes at the end of her time filming The Shape of Water, which was of course quite demanding. Then, it was off to shoot Paddington 2, surely a less-demanding production, right? Well, on the first day of shooting Paddington 2, Hawkins found herself filming…underwater scenes.

Hawkins’ character's name is Elisa Esposito. Esposito is an Italian last name that means “exposed.” It was the surname often given to foundlings, children left on the doorsteps of orphanages, and so on. This gives us a hint as to what Elisa’s childhood consisted of.

The Oscar-winning actress really wanted to work with del Toro. She told Deadline that "sight-unseen — I’ve been a fan of [del Toro's] for decades — I was in.” On top of that, she apparently loved being on set, and the production design. Spencer reportedly asked del Toro how many things from the set she could take home with her.