Synopsis

A frustrated puppeteer discovers a hidden portal inside an office building that leads directly into the mind of actor John Malkovich. After briefly experiencing life through Malkovich's eyes, he and his associate begin selling access to the portal. Their scheme becomes increasingly complicated as personal desires, romantic entanglements, and questions of identity blur the boundaries between one person's life and another's.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film marked the feature-film debuts of screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and music-video filmmaker Spike Jonze.

• John Malkovich was approached several times before agreeing to play a fictionalized version of himself. He initially offered to help produce the project rather than appear in it.

• Kaufman wrote the screenplay specifically around the name John Malkovich and reportedly refused suggestions that another actor replace him in the title role.

• John Cusack pursued the project after asking his agent to find him the "craziest, most unproduceable script" available.

• Michael Stipe of R.E.M. was one of the film's producers.

• The film received three Academy Award nominations for the 72nd Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Catherine Keener.

• Released on October 29, 1999, the movie was made for an estimated $13 million and earned more than $23 million worldwide.

• John Malkovich's character has the middle name Horatio, distinguishing him from the real actor while preserving the film's deliberate play with celebrity identity.