Leighton Meester and Hugh Laurie had previously worked together when she guest-starred in two episodes of House M.D. (2004), which had plot elements somewhat similar to those of Les oranges (2011). In the 2006 House episode Lines in the Sand (2006) Meester's character is a 17-year-old who relentlessly pursues Laurie's character, flirting with him and insisting that they should have sex.
During filming, Hugh Laurie, Leighton Meester, Allison Janney, Oliver Platt, and Adam Brody shared a house. While the film is set in the fall, from Thanksgiving to Christmas in New Jersey, principal filmography started at the end of March 2010 in the upscale Beechmont section of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York, and lasted 29 days. Scenes were also shot in the neighboring Westchester communities of Mamaroneck and Bronxville, and at the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.