40 Fun Facts About Maid in Manhattan

Maid in Manhattan was developed and sold as a modern retelling of which classic fairy tale?

Cinderella is echoed right down to the ball, as Marisa flees a black-tie benefit in a borrowed gown and her suitor follows. Jennifer Lopez said she saw the film as closer to Working Girl.

Which actor from The English Patient plays politician Chris Marshall in Maid in Manhattan?

Ralph Fiennes joined the cast two months before cameras rolled. He already had two Oscar nominations, and would later play Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter films.

Marisa Ventura of Maid in Manhattan rides the train to her hotel job from which New York borough?

The Bronx was Jennifer Lopez's home for 20 years, and she insisted that Marisa live there too. Lopez called Marisa the character most like herself.

In Maid in Manhattan, young Ty Ventura is fascinated by which US president, the subject of a school project?

Richard Nixon gives Ty and candidate Chris Marshall something to talk about when they first meet. Ty later cites him when asking Chris whether people who make mistakes deserve forgiveness.

Which Home Alone filmmaker devised the story of Maid in Manhattan but hid behind a pseudonym in the credits?

John Hughes is credited as Edmond Dantès, a pen name he used more than once. He was first announced as the film's director before stepping aside.

Red Om Films, a production company behind Maid in Manhattan, is run by which Pretty Woman star?

Julia Roberts named Red Om after her husband's surname, Moder, spelled backwards. Her sister Lisa Roberts Gillan, a partner in the company, also appears in the film as Cora.

Which future Teen Wolf star played the schoolboy son of Marisa Ventura in Maid in Manhattan?

Tyler Posey was a child actor when he played Ty, nine years before his breakout as werewolf Scott McCall. He later lost the Twilight role of Jacob Black to his friend Taylor Lautner.

In Maid in Manhattan, Marisa tries on a guest's white designer coat made by which Italian fashion house?

Dolce & Gabbana made the coat, which socialite Caroline Lane had asked to have returned to the store. Co-worker Stephanie argues that this means it technically belongs to nobody.

Glenn Lewis sings 'Fall Again' in Maid in Manhattan; which pop superstar had first recorded it as a demo?

Michael Jackson taped his demo in 1999 during sessions for Invincible but never finished the song. Robin Thicke co-wrote it, years before his own run of hits.

Which Who Framed Roger Rabbit star plays Lionel Bloch, the kindly head butler, in Maid in Manhattan?

Bob Hoskins plays the butler who works out Marisa's secret and teaches her the ropes. He said he came to think of Jennifer Lopez as a daughter during the shoot.

Maid in Manhattan opened at number one in the US by narrowly beating which sequel released the same weekend?

Star Trek: Nemesis lost the weekend by less than $200,000 and became the first Trek film not to open as the week's top earner. The romance took $18.7 million in three days.

Which actress plays Caroline Lane, the flighty socialite Marisa is mistaken for, in Maid in Manhattan?

Natasha Richardson plays the guest whose coat and identity Marisa borrows. A Tony winner for Cabaret on Broadway, she was the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave.

Which Big Night star plays campaign aide Jerry Siegal in Maid in Manhattan?

Stanley Tucci plays the harried manager who tries to talk Chris Marshall out of his impulses. Of the celebrity circus around the shoot, he said the bigger the bubble, the farther away he stood.

Which director took over Maid in Manhattan after the filmmaker first announced for the job stepped aside?

Wayne Wang broke through with The Joy Luck Club. After Last Holiday in 2006 he gave up studio pictures and went back to independent films.

In Maid in Manhattan, which elected office is Chris Marshall campaigning for while he stays at Marisa's hotel?

US Senator is the seat he wins by the final scenes, with Marisa still at his side a year on. In the original story the love interest was not a politician at all.

In Maid in Manhattan, Marisa Ventura cleans suites at which ultra-posh New York hotel?

The Beresford is an invented name, because the grand hotel that hosted the shoot did not want to be identified in the film.

In Maid in Manhattan, Ty asks Marisa for permission to join Chris Marshall on which outing?

Walking his dog is the errand that brings Chris to the suite where Marisa is trying on a guest's clothes. He takes her for the guest, and the mix-up drives the rest of the plot.

Which relative of Marisa in Maid in Manhattan warns that she is bound to fail if she reaches higher?

Her mother, Veronica, appears in a scene Jennifer Lopez insisted on including. Lopez said she had heard the same doubts about her own ambitions.

Amerie covers 'I'm Coming Out' for Maid in Manhattan; which Motown star first took the song into the charts?

Diana Ross released the original in 1980, written and produced by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers of Chic. It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100.

Whose song 'Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard' plays over the opening of Maid in Manhattan?

Paul Simon's 1972 single plays as the camera glides toward Marisa's neighbourhood. One critic reckoned it was among the few things to survive from the original script.

Which Working Girl screenwriter, later the showrunner of Blue Bloods, wrote the script for Maid in Manhattan?

Kevin Wade earned a Golden Globe nomination for Working Girl, another New York tale of a working woman on the rise. One critic noted that both films open on the same aerial view of the city.

Before Jennifer Lopez signed on to Maid in Manhattan, which Oscar-winning actress was expected to star?

Hilary Swank, fresh from her Boys Don't Cry Oscar, was attached when the project was still called The Chambermaid. The script was later reworked as a vehicle for Lopez.

Before its final name was settled, Maid in Manhattan carried which working title shared with a Billy Joel hit?

Uptown Girl followed an even earlier title, The Chambermaid. The final name was confirmed only in August 2002, four months before release.

In early plans for Maid in Manhattan, the love interest was a rich hotel guest of which nationality?

British was the original idea, a princely guest from overseas. The part became an American politician, though the actor finally cast was born in England.

Which landmark New York hotel joined the Roosevelt Hotel as a filming location for Maid in Manhattan?

Waldorf-Astoria management hosted the shoot but asked that the hotel not be identified on screen. The 47-storey Art Deco landmark on Park Avenue dates from 1931.

In Maid in Manhattan, candidate Chris Marshall is running for office as a member of which party?

Republican hopeful Marshall is told by Marisa what is wrong with his ideas on housing and poverty, and proves willing to learn. Critic Roger Ebert joked that the press trailed him as if he were Rudolph Giuliani.

Near the end of Maid in Manhattan, at which kind of event does Ty question Chris Marshall about forgiveness?

A news conference at Marisa's new workplace gives Ty his chance, and he then leads Chris to the staff room where she is on her break. The pair are reunited there.

In Maid in Manhattan, flighty socialite Caroline Lane is introduced as coming from which famous auction house?

Sotheby's is attached to Caroline in a staff briefing on the hotel's VIP guests. The same briefing covers an exhibitionist and two light-fingered French visitors.

Which jeweller's diamonds does Marisa wear with her borrowed gown at the benefit in Maid in Manhattan?

Harry Winston supplied the necklace, which Marisa's colleagues pair with a dress from the hotel boutique. One critic wondered why she then sleeps in it all night.

Two songs from which singer's Grammy-winning debut album, Come Away with Me, feature in Maid in Manhattan?

Norah Jones contributes the title track and the single Don't Know Why. Her album won the Grammy for Album of the Year two months after the film opened.

Which Destiny's Child singer's solo single 'Train on a Track' appears on the Maid in Manhattan soundtrack?

Kelly Rowland launched her solo career after guesting on Nelly's hit Dilemma. Train on a Track later turned up in a second romantic comedy, The Seat Filler.

Which Spanish-language US network aired Una Maid en Manhattan, a telenovela based on the Jennifer Lopez film?

Telemundo premiered the series in November 2011 and ran it into the summer of 2012. Its heroine starts out running a small hotel in a Mexican village before she reaches New York.

Jennifer Lopez's Razzie nomination for Maid in Manhattan also covered which thriller about an abused wife?

Enough shared the Worst Actress nomination, which Lopez lost to a tie between Madonna and Britney Spears. In the thriller her character trains in Krav Maga to fight back.

The story credit on Maid in Manhattan reads Edmond Dantès, a pen name taken from the hero of which novel?

The Count of Monte Cristo follows a young sailor who is falsely accused of treason and locked up in the Château d'If. The film's real story writer used the alias on Beethoven as well.

Jennifer Lopez called Marisa of Maid in Manhattan the character most like herself, sharing which family heritage?

Puerto Rican roots link star and character, and Lopez said Marisa was closer to her than any role she had played. She described her as a woman who rides the train to work each day and wants more.

What brought the first day of filming on Maid in Manhattan to a halt, leaving the shoot a day behind schedule?

Paparazzi and fans mobbed the set until police had to step in. The director called it his first Beatles experience and said nobody in the production was prepared for it.

In the closing montage of Maid in Manhattan, what has happened to Marisa and her fellow maids at work?

They were promoted to management, the step Marisa had hesitated to take for most of the film. The same montage shows the couple still together a year on.

In Maid in Manhattan, what does Stephanie file in Marisa's name because her friend keeps hesitating?

A job application for an assistant manager post goes in under Marisa's name, courtesy of her fellow maid. Stephanie is also the one who talks her into trying on a guest's clothes.

In Maid in Manhattan, where do Marisa, Ty and Chris Marshall go on their first outing together?

Central Park is where Chris falls for a woman he believes is a wealthy hotel guest. Marisa then hurries back to work and spends days trying to avoid him.

Which Jennifer Lopez single led This Is Me... Then, the album she released just before Maid in Manhattan opened?

Jenny from the Block peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and led an album dedicated to Ben Affleck. He also appears in the song's video.