 Curtis Hanson (I) (qv) cast Russell Crowe (I) (qv) after seeing  his performance in _Romper Stomper (1992)_ (qv). Studio execs were  adamantly against the idea of casting two Australians (Crowe and  Guy Pearce (I) (qv)) in an American period piece.  Kevin Spacey (I) (qv)s character was loosely modeled off of  Dean Martin (I) (qv).