The first time Michael Fassbender saw the film was with his father Josef. Both were relieved that his mother Adele could not make the screening.
The scene where Brandon hears his sister sing in the restaurant was shot in real time. James Badge Dale and Michael Fassbender had never heard Carey Mulligan sing before so their reactions were real. The scene was shot at 3 a.m with cameras focused on all 3 performers at the same time.
Commenting on his full frontal nudity shots, Michael Fassbender said in a 2011 interview with Vulture: "It just baffles me: Women can parade around naked all the time, but the guy conveniently has his pants on. I remember my mom always complaining about that to me, saying, "This is such bullshit, it's always the women who are naked" ... so I did this one for you, Mom!"
The scene where Brandon (Michael Fassbender) and Sissy (Carey Mulligan) have an argument on the couch while watching TV is an unbroken take of 6 minutes and 15 seconds.