Trivia

Ethan's failure to recite the Charles Bukowski poem was actually Alden Ehrenreich having difficulty remembering the order of the lines and making Alice Englert laugh. He performed the poem perfectly in all other takes. But Writer and Director Richard LaGravenese liked the idea of a "Romeo" trying to impress a "Juliet" and screwing up the poetry.

In the "snow sequence", the song playing over the scene, "Needle and Thread", was written and recorded by Alice Englert in her hotel room in New Orleans, Louisiana during pre-production. Writer and Director Richard LaGravenese wanted it for the movie.

The role of Amma is actually a combination of two roles from the book; Amma, a housekeeper/Seer, and Marian, a librarian and Ethan's late mother's best friend. Writer and Director Richard LaGravenese combined the two parts in the hope of attracting a great actress. Viola Davis was his only choice for the role.

Writer and Director Richard LaGravenese wanted as little greenscreen as possible. In the Caster holiday dinner sequence, the set was built so that the table would spin with the actors and actresses on bolted chairs. The floor beneath the table would also spin, in the opposite direction, with Alice Englert and Emmy Rossum strapped to "parade float" stands. The entire set was built on hydraulics so it could be rocked. On a speed scale of 1 to 10, the actors and actresses are spinning at an 8. The sequence took three days to shoot. LaGravenese, a victim of motion sickness, took Dramamine to direct it.

The poetry on the walls and ceiling of Lena's room were sourced from four poets: William Blake, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Rumi.