One of Steven Spielberg’s funniest, breeziest movies is the one about a teenage con artist who pretends to be a pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer. What fun! OK, he also steals more than $2 million—but at least nobody gets hurt. Catch Me If You Can was Spielberg’s first (and so far only) collaboration with Leonardo DiCaprio, his fourth with Tom Hanks, and the first time those two mega-stars worked together. The result? A hit with critics and audiences alike, with a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a worldwide box office haul of $352 million. Put on your fake Pan Am uniform and dive into the behind-the-scenes story. 

1. IT TOOK 22 YEARS FOR THE BOOK TO BE TURNED INTO A MOVIE.

The real Frank Abagnale Jr. published his memoir (co-written by Stan Redding) in 1980, and sold the film rights the same year. (It was Johnny Carson who encouraged him to write a book, by the way.) A decade later, producer Michel Shane optioned the book again, then sold the rights in 1997 to another producer, Paramount’s Barry Kemp, who hired Jeff Nathanson to write the script. Finally, in 2001, Kemp, Shane, and Shane’s partner Anthony Romano accepted “executive producer” credits so that DreamWorks could bring in its own producer/director: Steven Spielberg. The film was released on Christmas Day 2002.

2. FRANK ABAGNALE ADMITS THAT THE STORY WAS EXAGGERATED.

When the film came out, Abagnale posted a message on his website acknowledging that it would probably have some exaggerations—because so did the book it was based on. The memoir’s co-author, Stan Redding, interviewed Abagnale “about four times” and “did a great job of telling the story, but he also over-dramatized and exaggerated some of [it].” “He was just telling a story and not writing my biography,” Abagnale said, and the book had a disclaimer indicating as much. Abagnale wrote that he was “honored” to have Spielberg, DiCaprio, and Hanks make a film inspired by his life, but added, “It is important to understand that it is just a movie … not a biographical documentary.” Still, he later told an interviewer that the movie and subsequent stage musical based on it were “about 80 percent accurate.” 

3. A WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE ALMOST DIRECTED IT BEFORE STEVEN SPIELBERG DID.

As of 2000, David Fincher was going to make the film, but dropped out to make Panic Room instead. Gore Verbinski was next in line, with Leonardo DiCaprio attached as the star. (Verbinski cast James Gandolfini in the Tom Hanks role, Ed Harris in the Christopher Walken part, and Chloë Sevigny in the role Amy Adams would eventually play.) But DiCaprio’s commitment to make Gangs of New York first led Verbinski to drop out (that’s when he made The Ring). Lasse Hallström was in negotiations next, followed by Spielberg (in his role as producer) offering it to Milos Forman and almost Cameron Crowe. Spielberg finally decided, in August 2001, to direct it himself. 

4. IF IT WERE TRUE-TO-LIFE, CHRISTOPHER WALKEN WOULD HARDLY BE IN IT.

In real life, Abagnale never saw his father again after he ran away. But Spielberg wanted to have Frank Jr. continue to seek his father’s approval, to show up in his Pan Am uniform to impress him and seek advice from him. (For what it’s worth, the real Abagnale approved of these changes.) 

5. FRANK’S MOTHER WAS RECOMMENDED BY BRIAN DE PALMA.

Spielberg wanted an actual Frenchwoman to play Paula Abagnale, so he asked the Scarface and Carrie director, a longtime friend then living in France, to look around. De Palma did screen tests with several actresses, including Nathalie Baye, whom Spielberg recognized from the 1973 François Truffaut film Day for Night. She was exactly what he was looking for. 

6. LEONARDO DICAPRIO HAD 100 WARDROBE CHANGES.

Costume designer Mary Zophres said, at first glance, she thought dressing DiCaprio would be easy. Isn’t Frank in his fake pilot’s uniform for most of the movie? Turns out, no. His wardrobe changes more than 100 times, though that includes minor alterations like removing a jacket. 

7. THEY SHOT IN MORE THAN 140 LOCATIONS IN JUST 52 DAYS.

That’s an average of almost three locations a day, many of them in and around Los Angeles, but quite a few in New York City and Montreal. And as anyone who’s worked on a film set can tell you, even a move of a few blocks is a massive undertaking. Spielberg and his crew worked fast.

8. WALKEN IMPROVISED HIS CHARACTER’S BIG EMOTIONAL SCENE.

It’s when Frank Jr., now successful in his line of work (con artist), meets his father in a restaurant. The script calls for Frank Sr. to describe meeting his wife in France during the war (“Two hundred men, sitting in that tiny social hall, watching her dance …”). Walken delivered the lines several different ways and then, on one take, without warning, became emotionally overwhelmed. “It was completely unexpected,” DiCaprio said. “It wasn’t in the script … I thought the man was having a heart attack in front of me.” Spielberg was blown away by the choice Walken had made for the character and the flawless way he executed it. That’s the take they used in the final cut. 

9. JENNIFER GARNER ONLY HAD TO WORK FOR ONE DAY.

Spielberg had seen Jennifer Garner on Alias and thought she was about to become a big star. He was pleased that she was willing to take such a small role in his movie, and she was probably pleased, too: it only required a day of shooting. 

10. DICAPRIO MET THE REAL FRANK—WHICH SPIELBERG DIDN’T THINK HE SHOULD DO.

DiCaprio told an interviewer that Spielberg “thought maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea” for him to meet Frank Abagnale. But DiCaprio contacted him anyway, somewhat secretly, and spent a few days following him around with a tape recorder. 

11. THE ONLY MAJOR CHARACTER WHOSE NAME WAS CHANGED WAS THE FBI AGENT.

Carl Hanratty is based on several FBI agents who pursued Frank Abagnale, mostly one named Joseph Shea. It was Shea who caught Frank, hired him at the FBI, and was friends with him for the rest of his life. Abagnale called him Sean O’Reilly in his book (since Shea was still working for the FBI at the time), and it became Carl Hanratty for the movie. Interestingly, at one point the screenplay called him Shea, or perhaps Shaye.  

12. IT BECAME A MUSICAL, BUT NOT A TERRIBLY POPULAR ONE.

Catch Me If You Can was subsequently adapted into a stage musical, with songs by the Hairspray team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. After a Seattle tryout, it opened on Broadway in the spring of 2011 and closed 170 performances later—a far cry from Hairspray, which ran for 2642 performances. Catch Me If You Can did win one Tony Award, though, for Norbert Leo Butz as Carl Hanratty. It went on to have a successful national tour.

Additional sources:
DVD behind-the-scenes features

Think of Abraham Lincoln’s family, and Tad or Mary are likely to come to mind. So don’t blame yourself if the names Sarah or Thomas Lincoln don’t exactly ring a bell. But though they’re much less known, both of Lincoln’s siblings helped make him the man—and president—he eventually became.

Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas, also known as Tommy. (Yes, Lincoln was a middle child, a fact that makes his future rise to fame even more noteworthy.) Sarah was born in 1807, two years earlier than Abraham. In 1812 (some accounts say 1813), tragedy struck the Lincolns when their third child, Tommy, died at just three days of age. It is not certain what killed Tommy, but infant mortality was high in that era, especially on the frontier. Lincoln only mentioned Tommy a single time during his public career, but his death must have deeply grieved his family.

Together, brother and sister attended what was known as a “blab” or ABC school, a kind of early primary school common in frontier states like Indiana, where the family moved in 1816. Instead of featuring age-separated classrooms or expensive books or pencils, such schools used a strictly oral curriculum. The “blab” part came from teachers who recited rote lessons to the kids, who in turn blabbed them back. That back-and-forth didn’t necessarily provide a great education (and given that the school charged tuition, it probably cost the Lincolns dearly to send them there), but it was enough to instill the basics in both Lincoln kids.

But more grief was on its way for the Lincolns. Just two years after making the rough journey to Little Pigeon Creek and building a cabin there, Abraham Lincoln’s mother, Nancy, contracted “milk sickness” after drinking milk from a cow that had been poisoned by white snakeroot, and died.

Abraham and Sarah were devastated. Though she was only two years older than her brother, Sarah tried to be a mother to Abraham. She also inherited the chores expected of the woman of the house, caring for her brother, father, and a cousin who lived with them.

Just a year later, their father left brother, sister, and 18-year-old cousin at home as he hunted for another wife. When he returned with a new wife, Sarah Bush Johnston, both brother and sister were so dirty and unkempt that she scrubbed them clean. Johnston had three children of her own, and with the help of a new mother and in a house with three stepsiblings, the Lincoln children went back to a life of hard work and sporadic education.

Abraham’s sister Sarah was known in her community as gentle, intelligent, and kind. She married in 1826 to Aaron Grigsby and became pregnant. But during her delivery, she died unexpectedly at age 21. Lincoln never forgave the Grigsbys, whom he apparently blamed for not calling the doctor in time to save his sister. A few years later, in response to the fact that the Grigsbys did not invite him to a family wedding, he lashed out in the form of a biting, satirical poem about the event that culminated in a raunchy verse about two men who get married.

 
Though Sarah is thought to have affected Abraham deeply with her intelligence and commitment, he seems to have been less impressed by his stepsiblings. In 1851, he wrote his stepbrother John Daniel Johnston a scathing letter denying him a loan of $80 and observing that “I doubt whether since I saw you, you have done a good whole day’s work, in any one day.”

The letter is tinged with humor amidst the bitterness, like many of Lincoln’s missives, but it suggests that his non-Lincoln siblings never stole his heart the way his big sister did. Though Sarah never lived to see his accomplishments, she helped him mature into the person he eventually became—one who met life’s challenges with perseverance and, when needed, a bit of sarcastic wit.

From adding cream cheese to dunking in a deep fryer, Americans have taken the most iconic of Japanese cuisine—sushi—and added their own delicious spins. But because all is fair in love and food, Japan has done the exact same thing with the classic hamburger. Whether it’s reimagining what a bun can look like or creating unexpected ingredient combos, the Japanese make burgers with lettuce, tomato, and pickles seem downright passé.

1. SAKURA BURGER // MCDONALD’S

In 2014, McDonald’s decided to celebrate Japan’s cherry blossom season with its pink-hued, limited-run Sakura Burger. The sandwich had a special pink sauce (sakura-flavored mayo with Japanese radishes) and an egg on top of a teriyaki patty, but what really made the burger pop was the light pink bun.

2. KURO PEARL BURGER // BURGER KING

Burger King Japan brought the world the limited-edition Kuro Pearl Burger in 2014. To get that distinctive color, the black buns and sliced cheese were made with bamboo charcoal, and the black onion-and-garlic sauce included squid ink as an ingredient. The black burger briefly came to the United States for Halloween a year later with A-1 steak sauce. (People who ate it reported it turned their poop green.)

3. CHOCOLATE AND HONEY MUSTARD GRILLED CHICKEN BURGER // LOTTERIA

Valentine’s Day means chocolate, and Lotteria, a Japanese restaurant chain known for its outrageous and limited-edition burgers, didn’t want to miss out on the celebration. To honor the most romantic of holidays, it offered up a brand-new chicken burger in 2014. The chicken was marinated in a white wine and onion and garlic mixture, then topped with honey mustard sauce—but the real star was the chocolate sauce, which came in a separate packet for drizzling.

4. FRENCH CRULLER BURGER// MOS BURGER

Donut burgers have been around for over a decade now, but the Japanese chains Mos Burger and Mr. Donut turned the entire mash-up on its head when they partnered in 2014 to create the French Cruller Burger, a spiral chorizo sausage with chili sauce, onions, tomato, mayo, and lettuce, sandwiched between a soft French cruller. This wasn’t the first time the brands worked together to leave their mark on burger world. Past creations include a Red Bean and Custard Rice Burger and a Grilled Beef Rice Burger.

5. NY PIZZA BURGER // BURGER KING

Christmas dinner looks a little different in Japan, with KFC reigning supreme as the holiday meal of choice. Burger King decided to get in on the Christmas market in its own way with the NY Pizza Burger in 2011. A similar dish debuted in New York the year before, but the Japanese version upped the ante. The 8.8-inch-diameter burger, which had four overlapping patties and cost about $21.50, came in two styles: Fresh Avocado (just adding avocado) and Cheese Nacho (it included tortilla chips, cheese sauce, and jalapeños).

6. WET BURGER // MOS BURGER

Take one plain hamburger, submerge it in a ketchup-y sauce, and what do you get? The Wet Burger, which is exactly what it sounds like. Mos Burger’s interpretation of the Turkish islak burger, the Wet Burger comes in a wrapper, so it can be eaten without soaking your hands in sauce (Mos Burger’s much beloved Napolitan tomato sauce seasoned with garlic and onion). Oddly, though, only half the burger had the new toppings—the other half consisted of standard burger toppings.

7. PURPLE MAGIC BACON DOUBLE EXCELLENT CHEESEBURGER // LOTTERIA

Special-edition Halloween treats abound in Japan during the month of October, but Lotteria upped their themed-burger game with this year’s offering: two beef patties, two cheese slices, and a thick slice of bacon. The bacon was meant to resemble a tongue, and the “purple magic” in the burger’s name referred to the purple cheese sauce, which got its color from powdered Okinawan sweet potato. The entire burger was served up in a coffin-shaped box.

8. FOIE GRAS ROSSINI BURGER // WENDY’S

In 2011, after two years out of the Japanese market, Wendy’s returned with a vengeance and a brand-new $16 burger. The Foie Gras Rossini was a spin on the French dish Tournedos Rossini, both of which include slices of foie gras and truffle sauce. The burger was taken off the menu a year later after PETA campaigned against it.

9. BURGER WITH EVERYTHING ON IT// LOTTERIA

Lotteria took one look at McDonald’s Japan’s Giga Big Mac (a gigantic sandwich with 2.8 times the meat of a regular Big Mac), and decided to really step it up with its Burger With Everything On It. What can you expect if you order one of these limited-time monsters? Four patties (hamburger, cheeseburger, fried shrimp, and rib), bacon, cheese, a soft-boiled egg, lettuce, cabbage, tomato, and onion. Plus, a slurry-sauce of teriyaki, mayo, spicy mayo, tartar sauce, meat sauce, and ketchup. Turns out, there’s truth in advertising after all.

Even if you run your dishwasher nightly at home, it’s likely been a few weeks (if not months) since your office coffee mug received more than a casual rinse. But is this more than just a bad habit? According to The Wall Street Journal, your crusty cup isn’t a breeding ground for harmful, disease-causing germs. In fact, washing it with a communal kitchen sponge is likely worse for you than letting your mug sit at your desk.

Organisms and bacteria can multiply inside your mug if you fill it with liquid and touch it with your lips and hands—but the good news is that these germs probably won’t make you ill. For one thing, most viruses can’t survive for more than an hour on a stationary object. Also, even if you are feeling under the weather, it’s hard to reinfect yourself with a virus you’ve already contracted.

And while sharing mugs with your coworkers likely won’t make you sick, you’d be better off keeping your mug to yourself during cold and flu season.

In short, an unwashed mug probably won’t harm your health or anyone else’s (unless it’s moldy, in which case you should scrub it out ASAP). But if you do decide your go-to cup is due for a wash, steer clear of the office kitchen sponge. It’s been used to clean countless dirty surfaces, and it stays wet for hours, allowing germs to thrive and multiply. “The sponge in the break room probably has the highest bacteria count of anything in the office,” Jeffrey Starke, former director of infection control at Texas Children’s Hospital, told The Wall Street Journal. Instead, wash the mug by hand using hot water and liquid soap, and dry it with a paper towel. (Or bring it home and run it through the dishwasher.)

[h/t Science of Us]

Plant growth is heavily dependent on light, but it’s not just leaves and shoots that make use of the Sun’s rays, according to a new study in Science Signaling, and reported by New Scientist.

Using a flowering weed called Arabidopsis thaliana, researchers from Germany and South Korea discovered that the aboveground parts of the plant transmit light to its roots so that the plant can adapt its growth to the light conditions of the environment. Roots, they write, “directly perceive light that is conducted through the plant tissues,” with the stems acting as fiber-optic cables to transmit rays underground.

To confirm this hypothesis, the researchers exposed A. thaliana shoots to light, while keeping the roots from exposure, and vice versa, using an optical detector to record how much light made it underground. Some of the plants were genetically modified to turn off a photoreceptor known to detect light, found in both the aboveground parts of plants and in roots. They found that the stems conducted some wavelengths of light to the roots through the plant’s vascular system, affecting downward root growth. “Photoreception in the roots triggers a signaling chain which influences plant growth, especially the root architecture,” according to a press statement from Ian Baldwin from the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, who led the study.

Scientists have hypothesized before that roots could sense light, but this is the first experiment to confirm it, according to the Max Planck Society.
 
[h/t New Scientist]

On the spectrum of things to dread, networking doesn’t have to rank near dentist appointments and airport delays. Believe it or not, it can be fun—and you can walk away with real contacts who can help you with your career. Networking pros share their tricks for stress-free, effective meet-and-greets.

1. GET THERE ON TIME.

If you show up late to a networking event, people will have already formed groups, making it harder and more intimidating to break in, says Devora Zack, CEO of Only Connect Consulting and the author of numerous books including Networking for People who Hate Networking. “If you’re not comfortable going up to people you don’t know, [doing so is] not a good idea,” Zack says. At the beginning of the event, the atmosphere is more casual and there are smaller groups that are easier to join, she says.

2. VOLUNTEER AT THE EVENT.

Working the event gives you a sense of purpose as well as an automatic reason to talk to everyone, Zack says. After directing the guests to the sign-in table, for example, you can introduce yourself and pass along your business card.

3. CHANGE UP THE CONVERSATION.

Don’t rely on stale standbys as icebreakers. “A slight change can be quite interesting,” Zack says. Instead of asking where they work, ask “What is something you love about your work?” “Think of questions that are interesting to you,” Zack recommends.

4. DON’T ASK FOR FAVORS IMMEDIATELY.

You never want your new contacts to feel like you’re using them for their status or connections, says Dorie Clark, an adjunct professor at Duke University and author of Stand Out. “Avoid that problem by focusing exclusively on building the relationship for many months before you ask for anything,” she says. The exception: If they offer to make a connection.

5. STAY POSITIVE.

It’s very tempting to talk about what’s wrong (with the event, your company, your personal life, or the weather), and it’s alarming how often people do this, Zack says. Instead, make positive comments that allow people to see you as the great, optimistic person you are.

6. MAKE A SMOOTH EXIT.

You want to end the conversation before the other person gets tired of talking to you—and you also want to network with as many people as possible. Zack offers two suggestions for ending one conversation gracefully so you can move on to the next: With a warm, genuine smile, say either, “It’s been great talking to you, but I promised myself that I’d circulate,” or “I’m sure you want to meet other people—do you have a card?”

7. FOLLOW UP.

There’s little value in networking if you don’t maintain the relationship, Clark says. A few days after meeting, send a follow-up email. Then, use topics you’ve connected on previously as reasons to reach out every so often. “For instance, if you learn they’re a football fan, you can email them when their team makes the playoffs. Or if you hear they’re planning a trip abroad in a few months, you can shoot them a note afterward to see how it went,” Clark says.

Do you like beer? How about fun facts? If you answered “yes!” to either of those questions, we have some good news: mental_floss is now on Untappd. We’ll be using it to share trivia about the history and science of your favorite stouts, lagers, IPAs, and more.

For example: Did you know that Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass? Or that the victor in Finland’s Wife Carrying World Championship wins his spouse’s weight in beer?

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