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TRIVIA

Real Genius Trivia

1985

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It's yet another in a long series of diversions in an attempt to avoid responsibility.

Trivia

A group shot...

Totally Trivia

Film facts for the 1985 Comedy movie starring Val Kilmer, William Atherton, Deborah Foreman, Michelle Meyrink

Severn Darden, Jon Gries, Patti D'Arbanville, Stacy Peralta, Daniel Ades, Andres Aybar, Louis Giambalvo, Ed Lauter, Charles Shull, Gabriel Jarret Update Cast

We believe the following trivia is all legit. If it's bogus or you have additional info, please update us.

Thanks to Brian Palka

Update

Actor Tom Hanks appears briefly as an uncredited extra that Mitch bumps into in a crowd at the university early in the movie.

However, Aaron Shirley kindly updated to say that is NOT Tom Hanks. Can someone please confirm?

Thanks to Dean

Update

Robert Prescott was outstanding at playing jerks. He was Cole Whittier in "Bachelor Party", trying to buy Debbie (Tawny Kitaen) from Rick (Tom Hanks) and as Kent Torokvei in "Real Genius"

Thanks to Joanna

Update

The plotline from this movie, made 20 years ago, is oddly similar to the Space-Based Laser being tested by the U.S. Air Force today.

Thanks to Jonathan -Former Gundersen Student

Update

The boring professor who ended up with a classroom full of tape recorders is Prof. Gundersen, an actual professor at the Univ. of Southern California. He teaches/taught quantum mechanics and how lasers work. He was the technical consultant on the movie. I believe he wrote the equations on the chalkboard. Prof. Gundersen enjoys showing, in class, the script to his students as well as one of the laser mirrors Val Kilmer holds in the movie.

Thanks to Samantha

Update

Gabe Jarrett also plays one of the NASA mission control guys in Apollo 13.

Rewind Archive

Update

The character of Milton was played by a young Dean Devlin, who would go on to produce
"Independence Day", "Godzilla" and "The Patriot".

Thanks to Dennis O'Brien

Update

Another of the wide-eyed students at the beautician's party is actor Yuji Okumoto, who had more screen time as Daniel Larusso's nemesis in "Karate Kid II", as the Howard Cosell Stand-in in "Better Off Dead", and as the condemned prisoner in the James Woods' vehicle "True Believer".

Thanks to Lisa Venezia

Update

In keeping with the Karate Kid theme, Gabe Jarrett (Mitch Taylor) appears in Karate Kid III as the guy Daniel punches out in the bar scene and breaks his nose.

Thanks to Dennis O'Brien

Update

Actress Michelle Meyrink, who plays Mitch's love interest Jordan, also played the love interest for the Anthony Edwards character in another 80's nerd classic, "Revenge of the Nerds.

Thanks to Lucky

Update

Michelle Meyrink who played Jordan in "Real Genius" was also in the 80's hit movie "Valley Girl". She played Suzi, one of Julie's valley friends.

Thanks to Lisa

Update

Director Martha Coolidge also directed "Valley Girl" which also starred Deborah Foreman as Julie. Deborah Foreman appears as Susan (the 'very smart girl') in Real Genius.

Thanks to Abel Gleason

Update

Beau Billingslea, who plays the conscientious and ill-fated CIA-Agent "George" in the beginning of the film, is also the voice behind "Jet Black" on the hit anime series "Cowboy Bebop".

Thanks to Daniel Baker

Update

Jon Gries, who played Lazlo, later starred as Broots in the series "The Pretender".

Thanks to Keith Weibe

Update

Laslo Hollyfeld (Jonathan Gries) also played the Wolfman from the 1980's "The Monster Squad".

Thanks to Matt Reck

Update

Lazlo Hollyfeld, the 70's burnout genius who lives in the steam tunnels, was played by Jon Gries, who more recently starred as Uncle Rico in the cult comedy favorite Napoleon Dynamite.

Thanks to Bob Ahrens

Update

William Atherton later played the sleezy reporter in "Die Hard" and "Die Hard 2" as well as Walter Peck in "Ghostbusters"

Thanks to Andrew Alejandro

Update

In one of those "fast-pace collage" scenes, Val Kilmer is seen playing with and rolling coins up and down along his knuckles. He can also be seen doing this as 'Iceman' in "Top Gun" and with poker chips in "Tombstone" when he plays Doc Holiday.

Thanks to Jay Welch

Update

The pilot at the very beginning of the movie is world-renowned Z-boy skateboarder Stacey Peralta, from Powell/Peralta skateboards, now a movie producer responsible for "Dogtown and Z-boys".

Thanks to Dreamer012778

Update

Gabriel Jarret's name was actually misspelled in the credits of this movie as Gabe Jarrett. Also Gabe had a small part in the 1989 film "The Karate Kid part 3" as a character named Rudy.

Thanks to Alice Chesler

Update

The first "internet press conference" was held in Westwood at a computer store to publicize the movie "Real Genius". Skouras pix did the publicity for the movie.

Thanks to Jess

Update

In one scene when Mitch enters his room, he has a lady admirer. Later, he runs into Jordan and tells her about it. This serves as the chance for the two to get together. In the end of the film, Lazlo pulls up in an RV with all the stuff he won from the Frito Lay contest, with a girlfriend. Look closely and it's the same girl from Mitch's room.

This woman that is in Mitch's room and with Laslo at the end of the Movie also talks to Chris Knight at the beginning of the movie during his job interview. She implies she's met 6 of the top 10 minds in the country and Chris will be 7. She implies that she's slept with the top 10 she's met (which is why she wants to sleep with Mitch later). And at the end she says she's been looking for Laslo for a long time because he's the number one mind in the country. Her name was Sherry Nugil and she was played by Patti D'Arbanville.

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Bogus Trivia

There's often fake stuff floating round, y'know? -Like the 'ghost boy' that can allegedly be seen in "Three Men And A Baby".

But, nothing bogus that we know yet for "Real Genius".

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1985 Tristar Pictures
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