Following the release of Rocky IV, a joke was making rounds in Hollywood. Since Rocky had run out of opponents, he would have to fight an alien if a fifth movie was made. Jim and John Thomas took the joke seriously and wrote a screenplay based on it, which later became the movie "Predator".
Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in the Matrix. He starred in Wild Wild West instead.
The stars and flashes of light you see when you rub your eyes are called "phosphenes."