Trivia

Writer/director Robert Towne finished the script in the early 1990s but couldn't find financial backing. Even with Johnny Depp interested in the project, the script bounced around from studio to studio.

Salma Hayek developed hypothermia while filming the skinny-dipping ocean scenes.

When writer/director Robert Towne first approached Salma Hayek for the role of Camilla Lopez, she turned it down because she didn't want to be typecast as a Mexican. She accepted the role eight years later.

The rights to the novel once belonged to Mel Brooks but had lapsed.

Writer/director Robert Towne became interested in the project when he met John Fante, the author of the novel, while doing research for Chinatown (1974).