1. While publicising Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Angelina Jolie (who prefers to be called Angie) claimed to have two different lovers, although she never named them.
2. Jolie was a single mum while filming Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 2004 – she adopted her son Maddox from a Cambodian orphanage in 2002.
3. When the movie was made, Jolie and Maddox lived in an eight-bedroom farmhouse in Buckinghamshire, UK.
4. The house had an entire room dedicated to her knife collection.
5. Because of her knife collection, Jolie already knew how to throw them, which was ideal for the scene where the couple dance the tango and throw knives.
6. She also had a house in Cambodia.
7. Jolie said she was attracted to the Mr. & Mrs. Smith script, about a married couple trying to kill each other, because she’d already had “two failed marriages” – one to Jonny Lee Miller and one to Billy Bob Thornton.
8. Jolie said she didn’t think she’d have anything in common with Brad Pitt before they started filming. She thought he seemed very “clean” and “straight”, while she was “a little dirty”.
9. Pitt and Jolie did gun training while filming the movie. They used to compete with each other on the rifle range.
10. Jolie's favourite gun during training was the pump-action shotgun.
11. Pitt and Jolie used live ammunition during practice so that they would learn to “trust each other quickly”. Jolie shot at Pitt with a blank.
12. Pitt said he grew up with guns so was already good with them when it came to filming the movie.
13. Jolie and Pitt had to go to dance classes to learn how to tango.
14. Jolie herself did the stunt where Jane Smith jumps four storeys from a window wearing a dominatrix outfit.
15. Nicole Kidman was originally going to play Jane Smith but dropped out due to other commitments.
16. Johnny Depp was originally cast as John Smith but also turned the role down because he was busy with other projects.
17. Gwen Stefani auditioned for the role of Jane Smith.
18. Carrie Fisher was one of the “script doctors” who worked on the movie.
19. There were rumours that Pitt and Jolie had an affair while filming the movie, including a rumour that Pitt's wife, Jennifer Aniston, overheard them having phone sex, although the pair denied this.
20. Pitt and Aniston announced they were splitting up on 7 January 2005. Aniston filed for divorce on 25 March. Mr. & Mrs. Smith was released in June 2005.
21. According to the film’s producer Arnon Milchan, Aniston threw Pitt out after he admitted to her he was in love with Jolie, though Pitt denied this. Pitt lived with Milchan during filming.
22. Pitt rode to the set on a motorbike wearing a wraparound helmet so no one would recognise him.
23. Jolie said at the time, “I always fall in love while I’m working on a film.”
24. The sets for the Smiths’ house were designed by Victor Zolfo. Fans from around the world wrote to him saying how much they loved the rooms he designed – which included an oven concealing a stash of weapons.
25. The Mr. & Mrs. Smith house is located in Pasadena. The restaurant from the movie can be found in the Oviatt Building in Downtown Los Angeles.
26. The movie shoot got off to a troubled start because Pitt had hurt his Achilles tendon playing Achilles in Troy.
27. Pitt had to leave the Mr. & Mrs. Smith shoot to film Ocean’s 12 in the summer of 2004.
28. Jolie nicknamed the director Doug Liman “Bunny” on set. This was also her nickname from her mother when she was a child.
29. Part of the filming took place in an empty Ikea warehouse.
30. Mr. & Mrs. Smith made more than $478 million worldwide.
31. Both Jolie and Pitt earned $20 million for the movie.
32. There was originally a steamy sex scene between Pitt and Jolie, but this was cut to get the film a PG-13 rating. The sex scene can be viewed online.
33. Jolie said she related to Jane Smith being too hard and closed off. She said the film made her realise she needed to embrace life and family a little more.
34. Jolie said the message of the film was that couples who have been together for a long time should “take the time to rediscover each other.”
H/T Sex and the Single Mom by Nancy J Soles published in Vanity Fair, June 2005