Development
Kaufman's idea of Being John Malkovich originated simply as "a story about a man who falls in love with someone who is not his wife." Gradually he added further elements to the story which he found entertaining, such as floor 7+1⁄2 of the Mertin Flemmer building; among his first ideas, Malkovich was "nowhere to be seen".[7] He wrote the script on spec in 1994 and though it was widely read by production company and film studio executives, all turned it down.[8] Hoping to find a producer, Kaufman sent the script to Francis Ford Coppola, who passed it on to his daughter's then boyfriend Spike Jonze.[9]
Jonze first read the script in 1996 and had agreed to direct the film by 1997.[8][10] Jonze took the script to Propaganda Films, which agreed to produce the film in partnership with production company Single Cell Pictures.[8][10] Single Cell producers Michael Stipe and Sandy Stern pitched the film to numerous studios, including New Line Cinema, who dropped the project after chairman Robert Shaye asked, "Why the fuck can't it be Being Tom Cruise?".[11] Jonze recalled that Malkovich asked the same question, and that Malkovich had felt that "Either the movie's a bomb and it's got not only my name above the title but my name in the title, so I'm fucked that way; or it does well and I'm just forever associated with this character."[12] Jonze explained in the same interview that he had not realized how brave Malkovich's performance was.[12]
With a budget of $10 million,[13] principal photography of Being John Malkovich began on July 20, 1998, and continued through August.[10][14] Filming took place primarily in Los Angeles;[14] specific locations included the University of Southern California campus and the Observation Bar on board the RMS Queen Mary.[15][16]
The puppets were created by Kamela Portuges-Robbins and Images in Motion. Phillip Huber animated the puppets.[17] About Huber's puppetry, Jonze has said he was a full-time puppeteer and controlled his puppets with impressive means, such as using strings and no rods to control them, as well as swinging the puppets on high wires.[18]
Casting
Diaz's make-up artist Gucci Westman described styling Diaz in the role as "a challenge, to make her look homely."[19] The script included minimal physical descriptions of characters, and thus when Diaz took up the role she did not know that "people weren't going to recognize me."[20] Cusack read the film's script after he had asked his agent to present him with the "craziest, most unproduceable script you can find." Impressed with the script, he asked his agent to follow its progress and book him an audition, which won him the role.[21]
Keener cited Being John Malkovich as an instance of her taking up a role based on the director's previous work. She had heard about Jonze's experience with music videos and took up the part of Maxine although she initially disliked the character and did not feel that she was right for the part.[22][23] She was subsequently nominated for an Oscar.
Kaufman said that there was never another actor in Malkovich's place in the script: "The screenplay was always "Being John Malkovich", even before I had any expectation that John Malkovich would even read the script."[10] He chose Malkovich because he believed there to be "an enigmatic quality about him that works",[24] though Malkovich was partly chosen because of the sound of his name in repetition. Kaufman explained that "When we were thinking of alternatives, we found that a lot of them weren't fun to say."[7] Jonze's then-father-in-law Francis Ford Coppola was able to contact Malkovich,[8] and Jonze flew with producer Sandy Stern to Malkovich's home in France. Stern said that Malkovich was "half intrigued and half horrified" when he first read the script, but he eventually agreed to star in the film.[11]
