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Special Effects in The Black Dahlia: “There's not a lot of visual FX in this film. Obviously the guys falling down are on wires that we had to remove. The cut on the cheek is like with a trick knife that you can find in a magic store, that's hollow and blood comes out. Even as horrifying as it is and Mia’s doing a great job making you feel uncomfortable… God, I can't think of any others. Oh, of course we had problems making the palm trees burst into flames in the zoot suit riots, but that was because of our Bulgarian special FX crew.
I think the funniest thing was that I was doing this incredibly complicated crane and tracking shot and they have to throw someone through a window. It takes me hours to lay it all out, choreograph it, and then we do it. Then I come back and they said, 'Is that it?' I said, 'That it? Are you kidding. That was take one.' They said, 'We only have one window.'”
The Addition of a Lesbian Floor Show Scene: k.d. lang is the star of an extravagant floor show in the film – one of the scenes not lifted from Ellroy’s book. De Palma explained the inclusion of that particular scene: “I figured that there would be some really trendy club in Hollywood, some gay movie star-type club that wouldn't be like a lowdown dive, but would be some really hip place and hanging out with my lesbian friends who like pretty girls too. I thought, 'Why not have a lesbian chorus line of these drop dead beautiful girls making out with each other?' So I had this choreographer work for me, this French choreographer that worked with me on Femme Fatale and she got these Bulgarian dancers and a couple of ringers from Paris. She created this Bulgarian thing, and we had this great singer to sing the song and I shot it all night. It was my last night in Bulgaria and I kept on shooting it until the plane took off. Those dancers I had them do it so many times, and poor k. d. lang said, 'If I have to come down that staircase one more time…'”
The Chemistry Between Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson: De Palma claims he was unaware of anything special developing between two of his Black Dahlia actors. “To tell you the truth I [never] realized anything was going on until Scarlett came to visit the set after her shooting was done. I was like, 'Why would anyone come back to visit Bulgaria to visit the set?' That was the only time that I knew anything. But I thought that the way that Hilary and he were going at it, with Josh, was like, 'Whoa.' I think the way that Hilary and Josh kiss each other is so erotic. I mean, she's like tasting him like he's a great piece of fruit.”
In the Future – the Prequel to The Untouchables: De Palma confirmed he’s attached to direct The Untouchables: Capone Rising, the prequel to his 1987 film, The Untouchables. Asked why he’s interested in doing a prequel De Palma responded, “Well, because my producer was working on this idea while I was in Sofia [Bulgaria]. It's basically about the rise of Al Capone and his relationship with the Sean Connery character before Elliot Ness. We came up with a very good script so that's why.”
De Palma has an actor in mind to play Capone. “We’re thinking of maybe getting Nic Cage to play Al Capone and we gotta find a young Sean Connery.”
