50 Fun Facts About Meet the Parents

Which actor plays Jack Byrnes, the suspicious father-in-law-to-be, in the 2000 comedy Meet the Parents?

Robert De Niro admitted he had reservations about the film and felt pushed into it by his producing partner, Jane Rosenthal. He returned as Jack in the sequels.

What job does Greg Focker do in Meet the Parents, a career his girlfriend's father repeatedly mocks?

Greg is a nurse, and the character became one of cinema's best-known portrayals of a man in the profession. One nursing textbook author called it among the most positive on film.

What is the name of the Byrnes family's beloved cat, which Greg Focker loses in Meet the Parents?

Mr. Jinx was played by two five-year-old cats named Bailey and Misha, and their trainer said Misha handled about 85 percent of the scenes.

Which word does Greg Focker repeat on the plane home in Meet the Parents, getting himself detained by security?

Bomb is the word, and the scene had a real-life echo. In 2005 an American Airlines flight turned back to Fort Lauderdale after a napkin note referencing the film was found on board.

Which job does Jack Byrnes claim to have retired from in Meet the Parents, as a cover for his real career?

Florist is the cover story, yet Jack fails to recognise the extremely rare flower that Greg brings him as a gift.

Jack Byrnes is revealed in Meet the Parents as a retired operative of which agency, where he interrogated double agents?

The CIA is where Jack spent his career, and his old contacts there later fail to turn up any record of a Greg Focker.

What is Greg Focker's legal first name, revealed late in Meet the Parents when his exam records are faxed over?

Gaylord is the name on his records, which explains why Jack's contacts could find no trace of anyone called Greg Focker sitting the exam.

Which 1960s song do Greg and Jack argue about in Meet the Parents, after Greg suggests it is about drugs?

Puff, the Magic Dragon was made popular by Peter, Paul and Mary, and its writers always rejected the drug reading. They said it was about growing older.

What is inside the suitcase that the airline loses on Greg Focker's flight in Meet the Parents?

An engagement ring was in the bag only because airport security refused to let Greg take it through the X-ray machine, so he had to check it in.

Which actor plays Bernie Focker, Greg's free-spirited father, in the 2004 sequel Meet the Fockers?

Dustin Hoffman was half of what the producers called their dream team, cast to be the opposite of the conservative, upper-class Byrnes parents.

Which actor stars as Greg Focker, the anxious boyfriend at the centre of Meet the Parents?

Ben Stiller got the part because the director saw the film as an anxiety dream and felt nobody played that kind of material better. He also prized his knack for loose improvisation.

Where do Pam's parents live in Meet the Parents, hosting her sister Debbie's wedding at their family home?

Long Island is home for the Byrneses, and the first sequel pins their house to Oyster Bay, where Greg and Pam fly in to collect her parents.

In which city does Greg Focker live in Meet the Parents, the home he tries to fly back to after the visit?

Chicago is also where the story began: the 1992 independent film that inspired the remake was shot in and around the city on a budget of roughly $30,000.

Jack Byrnes's secret phone calls in Meet the Parents turn out to be arranging a surprise honeymoon in which country?

Thailand was the destination for Debbie and Bob's honeymoon, but Greg had heard Jack speaking Thai on the phone and wrongly concluded he was on a new spy mission.

Which exam does Jack Byrnes accuse Greg Focker of lying about having taken in Meet the Parents?

The MCAT is the admission test for medical school, and Pam finally proves Greg sat it when his parents fax her a copy of his transcript.

What does Jack Byrnes subject Greg Focker to without warning in Meet the Parents, drawing on his interrogation career?

A lie detector test is one of the film's best-known scenes, and the idea for it came from the actor playing Jack once he had read the script.

Which actor plays Kevin Rawley, Pam's wealthy and amiable ex-fiancé, in Meet the Parents?

Owen Wilson's Kevin stays on friendly terms with the whole Byrnes family and even serves as best man at Debbie's wedding, which only deepens Greg's insecurity.

Which actress plays Pam Byrnes, Greg Focker's girlfriend, in Meet the Parents and its sequels?

Teri Polo became well known through the role, and later spent five seasons as police officer Stef Adams Foster in the family drama The Fosters.

Which comedy director made both Meet the Parents and its sequel Meet the Fockers?

Jay Roach liked the script from the start, but Universal at first turned him down, doubting that the Austin Powers director could handle a less cartoony, character-driven comedy.

Which singer and actress plays Roz Focker, Greg's mother, in Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers?

Barbra Streisand came back to film acting for the part after an eight-year break from screen roles.

Which actress plays Dina Byrnes, Pam's mother, in Meet the Parents and its sequels?

Blythe Danner's Dina is the one who finally lectures Jack for disapproving of every man Pam brings home.

Which long-haired cat breed is the Byrnes family's pet in Meet the Parents?

Himalayan cats get their blue eyes and point colouring from the Siamese side, and some registries count them as a colour variant of the Persian instead of a separate breed.

What does Greg Focker do to a stray cat's tail in Meet the Parents to pass it off as the family pet?

Greg spray-paints it to buy time, but the impostor wrecks the house while the family is out and even destroys Debbie's wedding dress.

What does Greg Focker accidentally flood the Byrnes backyard with in Meet the Parents, ahead of Debbie's wedding?

Sewage pours across the lawn after Greg flushes a broken toilet, one of a run of mishaps that also sees him hurt the bride during a game in the pool.

Which game is being played in the Byrnes family pool when Greg Focker injures the bride-to-be in Meet the Parents?

Volleyball turns painful for Debbie, the bride, who was played by Nicole DeHuff in her first big film role.

What does Greg Focker lose hold of on the roof in Meet the Parents, setting fire to the wedding altar below?

A cigarette gets away from Greg while he chases the family cat across the roof, adding a fire to a list of mishaps that already includes a flooded lawn.

Whose ashes are inside the urn that Greg Focker breaks at the Byrnes house in Meet the Parents?

Jack's mother is in the urn, a gag carried over from the 1992 original, and here the family cat then treats her spilled ashes as kitty litter.

What does Jack Byrnes catch his son Denny taking from a jacket lent to Greg Focker in Meet the Parents?

A marijuana pipe belongs to Denny, who hastily claims it is Greg's and so feeds his father's suspicion about the new boyfriend.

How does Jack Byrnes secretly keep watch on Greg Focker inside the family home in Meet the Parents?

Hidden cameras are planted around the house, and in the final scene Greg finds one and uses it to vent his frustrations at Jack.

Besides investing in stocks, which craft does Pam's ex-fiancé Kevin Rawley practise in Meet the Parents?

Carpentry is Kevin's sideline, and he builds the altar for Debbie's wedding himself, only for Greg to burn it down by accident.

Which comedy star, once attached to play Greg in Meet the Parents, came up with the surname Focker?

Jim Carrey suggested the name during a creative session before he abandoned the project. In the 1992 original, Greg had no surname at all.

Which famous director wanted to make Meet the Parents before he and his chosen star left the project?

Steven Spielberg wanted to direct and produce the film, and Universal only handed it back to its eventual director once he had walked away.

Which British actress was first considered for Pam Byrnes in Meet the Parents before another actress won the part?

Naomi Watts auditioned at least five times, by her own account, but was judged not alluring enough, and the part went to another actress.

Which singer-songwriter composed the score for Meet the Parents and earned an Oscar nomination for one of its songs?

Randy Newman wrote 14 original compositions for the soundtrack, and he came back to score the sequel Meet the Fockers.

Which singer's Wonder Boys song beat A Fool in Love, from Meet the Parents, to the Best Original Song Oscar?

Bob Dylan won with Things Have Changed, leaving the film's composer on 14 Oscar nominations without a win. His first victory came a year later, for Monsters, Inc.

Which rating did Meet the Parents risk because the ratings board suspected the surname Focker was an expletive?

R was the threat until the studio sent the board a list of real people named Focker, which let the film keep its PG-13.

Which ceremony named Meet the Parents its Favorite Comedy Motion Picture in 2001?

People's Choice Awards voters picked it as the year's favourite comedy, while its leading man collected two separate comedy awards for his performance.

Which film finally knocked Meet the Parents off the top of the US box office after four straight weekends at number one?

Charlie's Angels took over in early November 2000. Before that, Meet the Parents had become the first film since The Sixth Sense to lead the chart for four weeks.

Which stand-up comedian helped produce the 1992 independent film that Meet the Parents remade, and cameos in it?

Emo Philips also wrote the original film's theme song and appears in it as a video store employee. He later took an associate producer credit on the 2000 remake.

Acclaim for which 1999 mob comedy led Universal to suggest its star for Jack Byrnes in Meet the Parents?

Analyze This won its star acclaim for comedy, though the Meet the Parents script was not written with him in mind: its first draft was finished three years earlier.

In which Florida city do Greg's parents, Bernie and Roz Focker, live in Meet the Fockers?

Miami stays home for the Fockers until Little Fockers, where Bernie announces they have sold up to move just two houses away from Greg and Pam.

What vehicle does Jack Byrnes drive the family from New York to Florida in during Meet the Fockers?

An RV, newly bought, carries the whole party south, and its toilet is wrecked once the Byrnes cat and the Fockers' dog start chasing each other.

What is the name of the Focker family's dog, which feuds with the Byrnes family's cat in Meet the Fockers?

Moses ends up flushed down a toilet by the cat at the end of a chase, and Bernie has to smash the toilet apart to rescue him.

What is the profession of Roz Focker, Greg's mother, whose clients are elderly couples in Meet the Fockers?

Sex therapist Roz was built with help from real experts: the crew consulted Jennifer and Laura Berman, who described the challenge of raising children around the job.

What does Jack Byrnes secretly inject Greg with in Meet the Fockers, just before Greg gives a toast at a party?

Truth serum sends Greg into an uncontrollable confession in the middle of his toast, after which he passes out in front of the guests.

What secret does Pam keep from her father Jack for most of Meet the Fockers, though the rest of the family knows?

Her pregnancy is kept from Jack even after Roz, Bernie and Dina find out, and by Little Fockers the couple are raising twins.

What has Pam's ex-fiancé Kevin Rawley become by Meet the Fockers, letting him conduct Greg and Pam's wedding?

An interfaith minister by then, Kevin ends up marrying his former fiancée to Greg at the close of the film.

Asked to say grace in Meet the Parents, Greg Focker ends up reciting which song from the musical Godspell?

Day by Day had been a real hit, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. One film scholar reads the scene as marking the cultural distance between Greg and his hosts.

Which director took over the Meet the Parents series for its third film, Little Fockers?

Paul Weitz stepped in after the director of the first two films, who had originally been announced for the job, was replaced.

Which pop star joined the fourth Meet the Parents film, Focker-in-Law, as former FBI negotiator Olivia Jones?

Ariana Grande's character is a life coach dating Greg and Pam's son Henry, in a film directed by John Hamburg, who co-wrote the earlier ones.