Ready to feel old? On September 22, the cult classic teen movie Empire Records officially celebrates the 25th anniversary since its 1995 release, marking well over two decades of people discovering this little movie — and falling in love with the staff of a record store. Sure, record stores may not really be a thing anymore — not in the age of streaming, anyway — but that just means the movie holds so much nostalgia for those of us who can remember spending our days checking out new music in the mall.
With a cast that included Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger, Robin Tunney, Ethan Embry, and so many other talented actors and actresses, Empire Records is a movie about 24 hours in a record store when the teenagers who work there find out they may be in jeopardy of losing their jobs because the store is being sold to a chain.
In honor of the movie's anniversary, here are facts about Empire Records even the movie's biggest fans may not have already known. From secrets about casting — including what role Angelina Jolie almost played — to what the cast got up to when the movie wasn't filming and more, here are all the fun details about this beloved film.
It's a pretty good time for a rewatch, right?
Angelina Jolie Almost Played Debra.
As producer Alan Riche told Buzzfeed, Angelina Jolie auditioned for the movie, and was almost cast in the role of Debra, a role that eventually went to Robin Tunney. Though he said that Angelina was a "force of nature" who had an "insane powerful energy," ultimately, she wasn't a right fit for any of the three lead female roles in the movie.
There Was a Golf Cart Incident.
There are a lot of fun behind-the-scenes stories about what happened during the filming of the movie, including one that probably wasn't so fun for Anthony LaPaglia, anyway. In the same Buzzfeed story, the crew revealed that Brendan Sexton actually crashed a golf cart into LaPaglia's brand-new SUV … less than a day after he purchased it and drove it off the lot.
Yikes!
It Had Success Years After Its Release.
Thanks to a lack of promotion for the movie from the studio — and the fact that it only showed on 87 movie screens — Empire Records ended up severely underperforming. It made $150,800 the first week and $74,850 the second week before the studio ended up pulling it.
Later, however, it would become a cult classic.
Coyote Shivers Lied About His Age To Get the Role.
Coyote Shivers stars as Berko in the movie, but as he explained in an interview with Consequence of Sound, he lied and said he was younger than he was to score the part.
… and filmmakers had no idea he was actually married to Liv Tyler's mom at the time.
"I had lied about my age saying I was a teenager because that's what they were aiming for, and I looked young anyway," he said. "They had no idea when they cast me that I was related to Liv Tyler. When they found out, I almost lost the gig, because it exposed the fact that I was well into my 20s."
The Cast Had Beachside Living ... With Maybe Some Pot.
In the same interview, Shivers also shared that while the cast was filming in North Carolina — in the same city that movies like The Notebook, and shows like One Tree Hill have been filmed — they had a little community going … and a bit too much fun.
"The studio got us each a house on the beach, all like in a row, and we lived there for three months, so it was like a little community, and everyone was really insane," he said. "In a good way, mostly, but a pretty insane lot. Hypothetically speaking, there was a lot of pot around at all times. Like a lot. Hypothetically speaking."
Ethan Embry Had a Crush on Liv Tyler.
In an interview with The Wrap, Ethan Embry admitted to having a crush on Liv Tyler that lasted through filming and into their next movie together. "I just remember having the biggest crush on [Liv]. Ever," he said. "Which was very difficult, because then we went to shoot That Thing You Do and I still had a [expletive] crush on her."
Rex Manning Is Based on Kurt Cobain.
In the movie, April 8 is Rex Manning Day, the day an artist comes to the store for a meet and greet that doesn't exactly go off without a hitch. Ethan Embry revealed in a tweet that Rex Manning is actually based on Kurt Cobain, with the April 8 date tying back to the day that Cobain's body was found — though some fans cracked this mystery long before Embry shared it.
The Script Had Its Roots in Tower Records.
The movie's screenwriter, Carol Heikkinen, based Empire Records on her own experiences working at Tower Records when she was in high school in Phoenix and at a different location in West Hollywood while she was in college, using details of what happened to her at the time to bring the movie to life. Though the stores have now closed, they will live on forever in Empire Records.
Robin Tunney Chose To Shave Her Head.
In a previous interview, Robin Tunney shared that director Allan Moyle warned her she was "too cute" to pull off Debra's depressed vibes, so she took it upon herself to shave her head and change the game.
"Allan came to me and he's like, 'I think the studio wants to fire you 'cause they think you're kind of too cute to be depressed. I was like, 'Well, I could shave my head,'" she said.
"And then I shaved my head, which made everyone very nervous 'cause it was live so if the film got damaged or anything went wrong, we could not do that over again. [Allan] just loved pushing the boundaries and that's why the film feels authentic."
Two Cast Members Got Arrested During Filming.
According to a story Robin Tunney told in the same interview, Ethan Embry and James Wills, who played Eddie, were arrested after they were caught with a cap gun in a parking lot and the police thought it was real.
"[Ethan] and Kimo got hauled off to the pokey and it was on the evening news. And they intercut footage of Ethan from movies he's done and they were like, 'Child actor goes crazy in mall parking lot,'" she said.
Liv Tyler Had To Have a Chaperone While Filming.
As costume designer Susan Lyall told Dazed, Liv Tyler had to have a chaperone on set because she was still a minor during filming.
"At the time most of the actors were pretty unknown. Liv Tyler was perhaps the most famous and she was just a kid, she was only 17," she said. "She was a fairly typical 17-year-old, but had a lot more life experience in some ways. Still, because of her tender age she had to have a chaperone with her, anyone under 18 needs to have a responsible adult present."
The Screenwriter Didn't Think the Movie Needed *That* Scene.
As far as the scene goes where Liv takes off her clothes to reveal her red bra, Heikkinen didn't feel it was necessary — but the studio did.
"The studio just wanted this idea of sex," she said during a 2015 Q&A. "I think that’s why you have this scene with a girl in her underwear, like they desperately wanted to have something that was close to nudity in it. And they’re supposed to be at work! This is a movie that didn’t need nudity."
Tobey Maguire Was Almost in the Movie.
Long before we knew him as Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire was almost one of the stars of Empire Records. According to what the cast told Buzzfeed, Tobey was cast and came out to Wilmington to film, but he ended up leaving early due to personal reasons — making a deal with director Allan Moyle that he'd go back to California and write a screenplay. No word on whether that screenplay ever surfaced, but Maguire made it in Hollywood anyway.
Everyone on Set Loved Liv Tyler.
During a 2015 event in celebration of the movie, Maxwell Caulfield said Liv was the center of attention on set, describing her as a "young, emerging swan," and that only increased when she started bringing her dog to set!
"Everybody swarmed to Liv, ostensibly to look at the puppy," Caulfield said, via Entertainment Tonight. "Crew, actors … we were all hanging out with Livy."
'Empire Records' Is Headed to Broadway.
No word on when it'll hit the stage officially, but in 2018, Heikkinen signed on to write the book for an Empire Records Broadway musical, which is sure to be entertaining — and quite possibly a hit.
"There's a lot of nostalgia now for those old record stores where you could go and talk to people who loved the same music you loved, and discover new bands," Heikkinen said at the time, via Broadway World. "We hope the musical will capture the memory of what it was like to be young in a time before iTunes and Spotify. Music is such an important part of the youth experience, and it’s what brings these characters together."
