Scene with the boiled rabbit, which was heavily criticized by animal rights and welfare organizations. He noted that they did not slaughter a real animal for the movie. They rented an actual rabbit from a nearby butcher shop. Her deadened corpse imparted amazing authenticity to this haunting turning point in the film. The decision stemmed from the producers’ belief that authenticity would enhance the emotional impact of the scene, which features Anne Archer discovering her family’s pet bunny in a boiling pot.
“Fatal Attraction” stars Michael Douglas as Dan Gallagher and Glenn Close as Alex Forrest. Anne Archer, as Gallagher’s wife, further enriches the film’s emotional core with a strong performance. Archer’s extraordinary performance won her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In the end, she lost the Oscar to Olympia Dukakis for her performance in Moonstruck.
In a 2017 biography of producer Sherry Lansing, Lyne admitted to the decision to use a real rabbit. Lansing would later serve as the chief of Paramount Pictures. As Lyne explained to us, the filmmakers wanted to make an incredibly visceral film for audiences to go through. He remarked on their approach to the rabbit:
“We tried to take its innards out to make it real,” – Adrian Lyne
This endeavor took an unexpected turn. She went on to say that taking out the innards left an imbalance causing the rabbit prop not to have any weight. To do that, they decided to do its insides with it whole.
“The stench was beyond belief. That probably helped Anne because the smell was so bad.” – Adrian Lyne
That infamous shower scene still shocked audiences everywhere. Most importantly, it established a new bar for accountability in animal welfare on film sets. The usage of a real dead rabbit has sparked debate among film critics and animal rights advocates alike since its release.
“Fatal Attraction” remains a defining work in the thriller genre, showcasing the intense dynamics between its characters and their moral complexities. Her film legacy lives on, in part, because of her courage to push boundaries and create discomfort and darkness.
