Director Jean-Jacques Annaud first discovered the source material for The Name of the Rose after reading a highly acclaimed Italian novel about a medieval murder mystery centered on a lost work by Aristotle. Fascinated by the setting and the intellectual challenge, Annaud tracked down author Umberto Eco for a meeting. During a car ride to Charles de Gaulle airport, Annaud peppered the author with questions about historical accuracy, from the color of pigs to the specific footwear of Franciscans. Eco, while noting he had not written those specific details himself, led the production to hire medievalist Jacques Le Goff and his colleagues to ensure the film’s architecture, costumes, and liturgy were authentic. A murder mystery about monks in the middle ages fighting for the fictional missing part of Aristotle’s Poetics, i read an article about a curious book that had great reviews in Italy. The author, was going to be in France for one night and agreed to meet me at his hotel and that I would drive him to Charles de Gaulle airport, i learned that Umberto Eco. Which looked like the silhouette of Sherlock Holmes – Umberto was a man of great humour, and he met me wearing a deerstalker, with a pipe in his mouth, the first thing I saw was his shadow on the hotel staircase.
For the lead role of William of Baskerville, Annaud initially sought an unknown actor, traveling internationally to view various theatrical productions. However, persistent advocacy from agent Mike Ovitz eventually brought Sean Connery to his door. Upon hearing Connery read the dialogue, Annaud was convinced he had found the perfect lead, noting that Connery’s delivery matched the voice he had imagined while reading the book. The production team scouted locations extensively, with Annaud even traveling to Vienna to study Bruegel the Elder paintings to capture the authentic look of the period’s populace. The friar who investigates the deaths, and travelled the world to watch plays featuring great actors in their 50s, i wanted an unknown to play William of Baskerville. Meanwhile, agent Mike Ovitz kept calling, saying: “Sean Connery would love to make this movie.
The casting of the novice Adso proved to be a family affair when 16-year-old Christian Slater auditioned. Despite Slater arriving intoxicated and failing to learn his lines—an act that infuriated casting director Mary Jo—Annaud chose to cast him, later discovering he was Mary Jo’s own son. Slater’s chemistry with Valentina Vargas, the actress cast as the village girl, was so immediate that Annaud abandoned his plans to audition other candidates for the role. Filming the production required building a massive monastery set on a hilltop near Rome, which resulted in several harrowing moments, including a fire stunt where a falling timber struck 80-year-old actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr. and a minor fire on Connery’s cowl.
The film’s production faced financial hurdles as well, with producer Bernd Eichinger eventually admitting he had sold the Munich production office building to help cover costs. For Ron Perlman, who previously worked with Annaud on Quest for Fire, securing the role of the hunchback Salvatore was a career priority. To develop the character’s unique speech, Perlman took a multilingual approach, combining seven different languages to create a nonsensical but communicative dialogue style. He also collaborated with a historian and dialect coach to develop a lullaby for the character’s final scenes, intending to convey a sense of childlike innocence as Salvatore faced his execution.
Perlman’s physical transformation was equally demanding, requiring over 13 hours in the makeup chair. When it came to a pivotal scene requiring him to spit in Connery’s face, Perlman initially struggled with the instruction. Connery eventually intervened, telling him, “Ron, if you don’t actually spit in my face, we’ll be here all day.” Perlman ultimately complied, though the necessity of filming multiple angles—including close-ups, profile shots, and over-the-shoulder perspectives—meant he had to repeat the act 16 times that day. Reflecting on the experience, Perlman cited Connery as a hero and valued the time spent listening to his stories throughout the shoot. He said: “I don’t know, I didn’t have to write any of that.
