Peter Foley's murders are all homages to other famous serial killers in the past.
Not only did William McNamara do his own stunts for Copycat (1995), but also spent time with Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist, in order to prepare for his role as the psychotic Peter Foley.
Sigourney Weaver is almost a foot taller (5’11”) than Holly Hunter (5’2”), thus for many scenes Weaver would be sitting down to make their heights appear more equal.
To research her role, Sigourney Weaver consulted with leading forensic psychiatrist Park Dietz, who had interviewed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Holly Hunter hung out with several homicide detectives in downtown L.A. to help her get into character.
In earlier versions of the script, the character of M.J. Monahan was written as a man and a romance would develop between Monahan and Helen Hudson.
Harry Connick Jr. spent weeks watching documentaries on serial killers in preparation for his role.
Years later, Sigourney Weaver would state that she was most proud of her work in this film. She worked hard to portray the mindset of an agoraphobic, and has regretted that the movie was lost in a shuffle of thrillers at the time and is not better remembered.
Sigourney Weaver's stuntwoman in Copycat had her nose broken in the fight scene with William McNamara.
Harry Connick Jr. was asked by director Jon Amiel to come up with a slang term for ladies' panties, which ended up as "squirrel covers," an expression he had heard his brother-in-law use.
Included among the American Film Institute's 2001 list of 400 movies nominated for the top 100 Most Heart-Pounding American Movies.
When Sigourney Weaver lures the serial killer to come to her, she whispers "kitty, kitty, kitty". Those are the same words she whispered in the classic sci-fi epic "Alien", when she was looking for her real cat, but instead the alien monster appeared. Some piano chords in the final credit soundtrack resemble the same chords as in "Alien".
In the climactic bathroom reenactment scene of Copycat, Sigourney Weaver actually spat in William McNamara's face without his prior knowledge from rehearsals. The reaction of anger and shock in his face is quite real due to his surprise.
The climactic bathroom scene in Copycat took 8 days to film.
The captain says to MJ that he had worked the Zodiac case. Dermot Mulroney (Ruben) later played a captain in the movie Zodiac.
The film grossed $32 million in the United States and Canada and $79 million worldwide.
The film received positive reviews from critics. It holds an approval rating of 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Trivia items from IMDB
Listen to my fascinating conversation with actor WILLIAM MCNAMARA about his impressive movie & TV career by clicking on the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 41 - HERE
Episode 42 - HERE
