Curiosidades

Became the first nominee ever to actually show up at the Razzie Awards. He personally accepted the 'Worst Director' and 'Worst Picture' awards for Showgirls (1995).

Despite directing four science-fiction movies (RoboCop: O Policial do Futuro (1987), O Vingador do Futuro (1990), Tropas Estelares (1997) and O Homem Sem Sombra (2000)), he has admitted that it is definitely not his favorite genre. He has said that as a European, he understood too little about American issues at the time to make a contemporary American movie, and science-fiction movies were a nice way to avoid that problem.

Considers John Landis his only friend in Hollywood.

Says he declined the offer to direct three back-to-back sequels to Velozes & Furiosos (2001) and + Velozes + Furiosos (2003).

He briefly considered directing RoboCop 2 (1990), but could not agree with the studio on the storyline. He ultimately did O Vingador do Futuro (1990) instead.

Was set to direct a (then record) $150-million epic called "Crusade" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1995 for Carolco. However, being an independent company, Carolco couldn't take two risks at the same time. Since Verhoeven could not guarantee that Crusade would not get over budget, the studio preferred Renny Harlin's A Ilha da Garganta Cortada (1995), which made Verhoeven decide to do Showgirls (1995) instead, as a favor to Mario Kassar. Harlin's swashbuckler flopped and bankrupted Carolco, so "Crusade" never got made. Given Schwarzenegger's political career and family problems (and the fact that he still owns the rights to the screenplay), as well as the release of the similarly themed Ridley Scott film Cruzada (2005), it is unlikely "Crusade" will ever be made, although Verhoeven is still often quoted as saying he'd be interested.

Out of all the films he directed, Tropas Estelares (1997) is his personal favorite.

In his book Jesus of Nazareth, published by Seven Stories Press, Verhoeven cites RoboCop: O Policial do Futuro (1987) as his "Jesus movie".

Of all his films, claimed that Tropas Estelares (1997) was the only one he would be interested in revisiting for a true sequel (the 2004 Phil Tippett directed Tropas Estelares 2 (2004) did not involve him) but at one point he wanted to do Minority Report: A Nova Lei (2002) (directed by Steven Spielberg) as a follow-up to his O Vingador do Futuro (1990).

Was offered the chance to direct O Silêncio dos Inocentes (1991), but declined, thinking that there would not be an audience for a movie which such a dark tone. He regretted the decision after the movie proved to be both a critical and commercial success.

He was planning to make a pirate movie called 'Mistress of the Sea' with Geena Davis. However, with an estimated budget of 75 million dollar, the studio demanded a male protagonist to increase the chances of financial success. Verhoeven refused to consider Harrison Ford for the part, and the project was abandoned. Ironically, Davis would later star in the ill-fated pirate movie A Ilha da Garganta Cortada (1995), which was so costly that Carolco studios canceled Verhoeven's project 'Crusade'.

During his army service in the sixties he made a point of attending public events, including every movie premiere of his then very left-wing hippie friends and colleagues, in his full gala-uniform of the Dutch Royal Marines.

Considers O Barco: Inferno no Mar (1981) to be the best war movie ever made. One of his reasons for this is the innovative photography by Jost Vacano, who also shot many of Verhoeven's Dutch and American movies.

Has made films in Dutch, English, German and French.

Likes to relax on music from the German hard rock band Rammstein.

Was offered the chance to direct A Insustentável Leveza do Ser (1988), but did not accept, as he was unsure how to handle the social and political aspects of the movie. He later commented that he liked Philip Kaufman's version of the movie, but felt no regrets over passing on the project.

RoboCop: O Policial do Futuro (1987) is his only movie in which he appears in a brief cameo, and it was unintentional. During the scene in the club, he was frenetically moving along with the extras in order to coax them into dancing. The camera picked up some shots of him, and he was very surprised to see that the editor had put some of the footage into the movie (even if for a very brief shot).

Showing male full frontal nudity was quite normal in Verhoeven's Dutch films up to O Quarto Homem (1983). After that, he pursued a career in the USA, where the movie rating system wouldn't allowed this. The only full male nudity in his American films is in O Homem Sem Sombra (2000), which was allowed because the penis was half-invisible and seen through a thermal scanner.

He studied Mathematics and Physics at the University of Leiden.

Of all the Dutch filmmakers, who ever worked in Hollywood, he's still the most successful and influential.

He has stated that Rutger Hauer was to him as Marcello Mastroianni was to Federico Fellini; his 'cinematic alter ego' through whom he could maximally express himself, which was the reason that Verhoeven would always be looking for a role that Hauer could play in his movies.

Had a falling out with frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer on the set of Conquista Sangrenta (1985), which would become the last movie they made together. After Hauer's death in 2019, Verhoeven stated that they had regular dinners with their respective spouses in the last ten years of Hauer's life, so he considered the matter resolved.

After studying Math and Physics (mainly to appease his parents), he started the Dutch film school, but dropped out after a year, stating that he felt he didn't learn anything there. Being self-taught would later cause some friction with professional critics who looked down on amateur filmmakers, and regularly panned his movies.

Speaks Dutch, English, French and German.

Member of the jury at the 'I've Seen Films International Film Festival 2011', founded by Rutger Hauer.

Was slated to direct a sequel to Thomas Crown: A Arte do Crime (1999), but the film got shelved for a while. When the project was finally revived, Verhoeven left due to disagreements over the script. The film was ultimately never made.

Was a member of the Leiden students body "Minerva", which plays a central role in his acclaimed Soldado de Laranja (1977), based on Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema's book.

German cinematographer Jost Vacano shot 7 feature films for him, more than Jan de Bont, who only shot 6 of them. Verhoeven said, that he first became aware of Vacano through the groundbreaking camera techniques used in Supermarkt (1974).

His only Hollywood films that have not yet had a sequel are Conquista Sangrenta (1985) and O Vingador do Futuro (1990) (although a short-lived Total Recall television series was made). All his other Hollywood epics (RoboCop: O Policial do Futuro (1987), Instinto Selvagem (1992), Showgirls (1995), Tropas Estelares (1997) and O Homem Sem Sombra (2000)) have had one or more sequels made. He did not direct any of them, nor did he have any affiliation with the remakes O Vingador do Futuro (2012), RoboCop (2014), and the planned 'Starship Troopers'.

His last name is correctly pronounced as "Vair-who-ven" instead of "Vair-HO-ven".

Did a series of reviews on many well-known and lesser known classic movies in a Dutch newspaper, inspired by A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995). The reviews were later published as collected works, and are quite popular with Dutch film students.

Directed one Oscar-nominated performance: Isabelle Huppert in Elle (2016).

Had to collect unemployment benefits in between his Dutch movies.

President of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017.

Member of the 'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (AMPAS).

Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 64th Venice International Film Festival in 2007.

In 2004, Paul Verhoeven finished at number 97 in the election of ''De Grootste Nederlander'' (The Greatest Dutchman).

Likes to drink Cola light.

The only other Dutch filmmakers of which he ever spoke approvingly were Dick Maas, Martin Koolhoven and documentary maker Bert Haanstra.