8 Things You Didn’t Know About The Movie 'The Birdcage'

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2/9 Director Mike Nichols required that Nathan Lane and Robin Williams film at least one take of each scene sticking to the script before he would allow them to improvise.
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3/9 Hank Azaria based the voice of Agador Spartacus on his grandmother’s.
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4/9 Originally, Steve Martin was cast as Armand and Robin Williams was slated for the role of Albert. Scheduling conflicts forced Martin to drop out.
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5/9 Robin Williams turned down the part of Albert; having recently starred in the film 'Mrs. Doubtfire', he decided he would rather play the more subdued role.
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6/9 In the movie, Calista Flockhart’s character is "not even 18". Flockhart was actually 31 at the time of the filming.
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7/9 According to IMDB, Robin Williams’ fall during the kitchen scene was not planned. Williams really slipped — you can see Hank Azaria trying to hold back a bit of laughter.
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8/9 Hank Azaria wore a tiny thong in the original movie, but it was digitally covered for the TV version.
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9/9 Nathan Lane based his drag look for Mrs. Goldman off former First Lady Barbara Bush.
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With a larger than life personality, Robin Williams was talented in every role he played, like in the 1996 comedy 'The Birdcage'.

The film - a remake of the French farce 'La Cage aux Folles' - paired Williams with actor Nathan Lane to great effect.

It's been 20 years since the movie first hit cinemas around the world, so we wanted to share with you 8 behind-the-scenes facts you probably don't know...

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