11 Things You Never Knew About Jim Carrey's 'The Truman Show'

It seems strange to think that "The Truman Show" is now 20 years old, especially given how prophetic the movie ended up being about the rise of reality TV.

20 years later, as of this week, it's still fondly remembered as one of the best films in Jim Carrey's career. Here some interesting facts you might not know about this unusual sci-fi drama.
1. The film began life as a one-page story treatment in 1991. At that point, it was called "The Malcolm Show" and was set inside an elaborate recreation of New York City.

2. Director Peter Weir said that the film was partly inspired by the life of Michael Jackson, who -- like Truman -- dealt with a lifetime of media attention.
3. Originally, Truman was intended to be a younger character who recently graduated high school. But when Carrey was cast, the script was rewritten to make Truman a 30-year-old man.

4. Earlier screenplay drafts contained many darker moments cut from the final version. Among these are scenes where Truman fails to stop staged criminal acts and a violent confrontation between Truman and Christof at the end of the film.5. The film provides an early clue that Truman's entire town is located inside a massive studio building thanks to a shot of a Vitamin D supplement bottle, which would be necessary for someone who's never actually been exposed to the sun.

6. The film contains numerous subtle references to Psalm 139 in the Bible, including the numbers "139" on the sail of Truman's boat.
7. Weir wrote an elaborate, 10-page back-story for Truman's reality series, which revealed that the series has won numerous Emmy awards and that Christof directed an award-winning documentary about the homeless.

8. The film was originally scheduled for release in November 1997, but was pushed back to Summer 1998 to prevent it from being overshadowed by "Titanic."
9. Weir filmed "The Truman Show" in an unusual 1.66:1 aspect ratio in order to make it feel more like a TV show. However, both the theatrical and Blu-ray releases were cropped, and only the DVD version features the correct aspect ratio.

10. Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert liked the film so much that they actually apologized during an episode of "Siskel & Ebert" for insinuating that Carrey would never have a career after "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective."
11. Psychiatrist Joel Gold has noted a phenomenon called "The Truman Show delusion," where schizophrenic patients believe they too are trapped in an elaborate reality TV show and having every moment of their lives viewed by an audience.

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