Trailer
Plot summary
As a boy, Hal Larson visits his dying father, who is delirious from painkillers and urges him never to settle, stressing appearances. Grown up, Hal works at JPS Funds under president Steve Shanahan and spends his nights in clubs with Mauricio, a friend as shallow as he is, being turned down by beautiful women. The promotion he is denied leaves him dismayed, and his neighbor Jill rejects him over his shallow lifestyle. A stalled elevator ride with a life coach leaves Hal hypnotized into seeing only a person's inner beauty. He later meets Steve's morbidly obese daughter, Rosemary, who appears to him as a slender beautiful blonde, and he is instantly smitten. Used to being overlooked for her looks, Rosemary reads his interest as mockery before agreeing to date him once she finds it sincere.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Shallow Hal (2001)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Writer Sean Moynihan is legally blind and was inspired by Tony Robbins to write the script; earlier versions of the story had no Robbins character at all, and a psychic was responsible for Hal's change of view instead.
- Paltrow's body double Ivy Snitzer said in a 2023 interview with The Guardian that after the film came out she faced comments claiming she was "promoting obesity" and insinuations that she should lose weight, which led to body-image problems, eating disorders, overexercising and complications from a gastric band surgery.
- The Farrelly brothers tried unsuccessfully to get Garry Shandling to star as Mauricio before Jason Alexander was cast in the part.
- Gwyneth Paltrow later admitted that she did not enjoy taking part in the production of the movie, and in particular dreaded having to wear the fat suit and makeup.
- Production was moved up in order to get the film completed before July 2000 and a threatened Screen Actors Guild strike.
