Training Day (2001) Poster



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During the scene when Jake plays cards with the Latino gangsters, director Antoine Fuqua gave certain instructions to the actors playing the gangsters, without telling Ethan Hawke. This was done to further confuse him and add to the tension of the scene.
Denzel Washington has frequently said that Detective Alonzo Harris is his favorite character that he's played.
When the movie came out, many viewers and critics were skeptical of the scenes where Jake Hoyt smokes marijuana laced with PCP and Alonzo's explanation of how a cop who didn't take drugs offered to him on the street would be ID'd as police and murdered. David Ayer responded in an interview by holding up a highlighted section of the LAPD's rules and regulations; it stated that officers were allowed to use narcotics in very specific undercover situations, and hewed closely to what Alonzo told Jake.
T. Rodgers, the founder of the Black P. Stones Bloods in Baldwin Village a.k.a. The Jungles in Los Angeles, was on set for all of the filming in his neighborhood and allowed the producers to use his neighborhood in exchange for casting gang members.
The coffee shop in the beginning of the movie (which was, incidentally, the first scene shot) is the same shop that was used in Se7en (1995) in the scene where Morgan Freeman meets Gwyneth Paltrow to talk. In the window in both movies, the writing reads "Quality Cafe". The Quality Cafe is also used in Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), Ghost World (2001) and Catch Me If You Can (2002).
Tobey Maguire was seriously considered for the part of Officer Jack Hoyt. He even followed Undercover Narcotics officers in Los Angeles for two months and gained weight for the role. He was dropped when Ethan Hawke, Fuqua's first choice, was finally available for the shooting schedule.
The License Plate on Alonzo's car is "ORP 967" obviously a nod to Officer Rafael Perez, the disgraced LAPD officer who was born in 1967 and on whom the character was based.
Bruce Willis was offered the role of Alonzo.
About the casting of 'Ethan Hawke', Antoine Fuqua said "there's something innocent about Ethan, he's such a nice guy...but there's something in his eyes, that tells you he's seen something."
The word "fuck" is used 211 times.
Before Antoine Fuqua was involved in the project, Davis Guggenheim was set to direct with Samuel L. Jackson as Detective-Sergeant Alonzo Harris and Matt Damon as rookie Officer Jack Hoyt. When Denzel Washington accepted the role as Detective-Sergeant Alonzo Harris, Guggenheim was replaced per his request.
This movie is unique in Academy Awards history, in that it's the only time an African-American, Denzel Washington, won the Best Actor Oscar as directed by a fellow African-American, Antoine Fuqua.
Mickey Rourke was director Antoine Fuqua's first choice for the part of Roger. The studio turned Fuqua's request down.
To give to his character a much more authentic aspect, Denzel Washington decided to have the same look as disgraced LAPD Officer Rafael Perez.
Gary Sinise and Tom Sizemore were offered the role of Alonzo but passed.
David Ayer wrote the first draft in 1995, way before the Rampart Scandal made headlines in 1998. In the first draft, Alonzo was a Latino officer in charge of drug enforcement in the gang infested area of Pico-Union within the Rampart Division. He was a loner and didn't have any partner because of his reputation as a corrupt and racist cop. But the basics elements of the character were there: he wears expensive jewelry and drives a 1979 Monte Carlo model.
The picture of his early years as a cop that Harris (Denzel Washington) shows to Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) in one of the deleted scenes is a still frame from Ricochet (1991)
David Ayer was the only writer to work on the script, such a rarity it merited a congratulatory call from Chairman of Warner Brothers Pictures.
The film had several police technical advisors. Among them is Detective-Sergeant Brian Davis, an LAPD veteran who is one of the most respected and decorated officer of the infamous elite Special Investigation Section.
Rapper and actor Eminem was offered to play Rookie cop Jack Hoyt. The rapper turned it down, due to the development of 8 Mile and had to stay available for that. Had he accepted the role, he would've shared scenes with rappers, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, the latter of which is Eminem's mentor. Instead, Ethan Hawke took the part and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Eminem was nominated and won the following year for 8 Mile, but for the Academy Award for Best Original Song Lose Yourself.
Mark Wahlberg was considered for the role of Jake Hoyt.
Alonzo's car is a 1979 Chevy Monte Carlo, with some modifications: it has Dayton wire wheels with bullet caps; a Grant steering wheel; Flowmaster exhaust; and hydraulics. Added to this, the car is outfitted with a sunroof, which that era's Monte Carlos never had.
Alonzo's weapons of choice in the film are the venerable Smith & Wesson 4506, of which he carries two in a dual shoulder holster. The 4506 is a .45 ACP semi automatic [previously] used by many police departments around the country.
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Famous crime novelist and LAPD specialist James Ellroy described the movie as "a complete waste of time".
Although not shown in the film, the producers of the movie asked if the Angelus Temple cross, a famous Echo Park landmark could be used in the film. When the church declined, they brought in a "fake" cross and using a crane hoisted it up a few feet in front of the real Angelus Temple.
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There was a scene that was filmed, but cut. Which revealed that Alonzo wasn't always a crooked cop, as Alonzo tells Jake about a man called Spooky, whose house Alonzo and his partner watched and Alonso witnessing a old man called Too Fine, hitting a dog outside Spooky's house, so he can teach the dog to hate black people and Alonso was on the verge of loosing his mind and that Alonso taught himself to not react emotionally and let things get him down and that they had been too much humanity in him.
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The trivia items below may give away important plot points.

Just after Smiley tells Sniper to deal the cards again, the sound of Alonzo's car can be heard leaving.
The original ending of the script was Hoyt crashing the pad of Alonzo's girlfriend and find his training officer in the middle of an orgy with two young women. Hoyt shows him the money that Smiley was supposed to deliver to the Russians and tells him that there is a crew of hit men looking all over for him. Alonzo then commits suicide in front of Hoyt.
During the movie, Hoyt often does the opposite of what Alonzo tells him to do. He tells Hoyt not to get involved with anything but organized crime and avoid wasting time with small crimes but he helps the girl who is getting raped (which eventually saves his life), he tells him never to mention his family while working but he says he's married and has a daughter when he's about to be shot in the tub, he tells Hoyt never to enter the rough neighborhood "Jungles" without him but he does (which eventually helps him catch Alonzo).
The quote "King Kong aint got shit on me" is a reference to 1930s King Kong
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