The Persuasion Trick Cameron Crowe Used to Make John Cusack Lift the Boom Box in Say Anything

That famous Say Anything moment with John Cusack holding a boom box over his head outside Ione Skye's window? It almost never happened. Cameron Crowe just explained how they had to outfox their star to get the shot that basically turned into the face of rom-coms.

Cusack vs. the boom box

In a new chat with The New York Times, Crowe says Cusack did not want Lloyd Dobler to do the grand-gesture thing. He thought the move made Lloyd look weak, and pushed for a different version that felt more like him. They actually filmed an alt where the boom box sits on the car hood while Lloyd stands by it. Cusack was into that one. The classic above-the-head lift? Not so much.

'He felt like it was a subservient act: Why does Lloyd have to be a wuss like that?'

'The legendary cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs knew that we had been battling... He leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Don’t worry, there’s no film in the camera".'

The inside-baseball trick that saved the scene

Yep, that is some peak behind-the-scenes mischief. While Cusack performed the car-hood version he preferred, Kovacs quietly told Crowe they weren't even rolling for real. It was a stall tactic to keep the option open until they could try the hold-it-high take one more time.

Racing the sun, getting the shot

On the final day, with daylight fading, Kovacs spotted a better setup across the street. They hustled the car over and asked Cusack to try the lift again. He agreed, not exactly thrilled about it, which turned out to be perfect for Lloyd's headspace in that moment.

• Cusack resists the boom box-overhead idea, calls it too submissive for Lloyd
• They shoot a compromise version with the boom box on the car hood
• DP Laszlo Kovacs quietly runs that take with no film to buy time
• Last day, losing light, they sprint across the street for one more try
• Cusack finally raises the boom box, visibly frustrated — exactly the emotion the scene needed

And that was it: the take that launched a thousand dorm posters. Say Anything went on to become one of the most successful romantic comedies out there, and Cusack is forever linked to that boom box image outside Diane Court's window. Funny thing about iconic moments — sometimes they only happen because a legendary cinematographer whispers the oldest trick in the book and the sun is about to disappear.