Although they first met years earlier, actor Ed Harris and actress Amy Madigan got married after working together on this film.
Director and screenwriter Robert Benton set the film in his birthplace of Waxahachie, Texas in 1935, three years after he was born there. Waxahachie was a half-hour drive south of Dallas; a small, relatively-prosperous farming town near a major city.
Sally Field's character's first name, "Edna," is only said once in the entire film. During the majority of the film, she is referred to as "Mrs. Spalding." Other than that, she is referred to as "sis" or "ma'am."
Gennie James was cast as Possum Spalding after the initially-cast little girl couldn't stop crying when the cameras were rolling. The two girls were actually friends in their hometown of Navasota, Texas.