I read something the other day with Mann talking about why he took out the coke thing in Heat.
In an earlier version of the script, Hanna has a cocaine habit, which sort of explains his outbursts. That seems to make his addictive personality too literal. Why was that particular trait removed from the film?
Al was edgy enough so that you didn’t need to add that he was using coke, too. If I had done that, it would explain behavior that I didn’t want explained chemically. So it became a crutch we didn’t need. You take the crutch away, and you’re better, y’know what I mean?