Director Berardo Carboni said that when he cast Matilda de Angelis, she refused to do the nude scenes at first because they made her uncomfortable. Actress Donatella Finocchiaro suggested he talk to de Angelis' American acting coach, Doris Hicks, about changing her mind. So Carboni traveled to Milan to meet her and de Angelis. When he arrived at Hicks' house, he looked in the window and saw de Angelis dancing in her underwear. He rang the bell and Hicks invited him in, where she explained she was working with de Angelis to overcome her nervousness about performing nude. After continuing to dance in her bra and panties while Carboni watched, Hicks encouraged her to take the next step and remove them. But de Angelis was nervous, so Hicks said she would get naked too. Then she told Carboni he would have to do the same. He agreed and they all ended up dancing naked together. After that, he said de Angelis had no problem with being nude in the movie. In fact, she went on to appear nude in several films after that.
Berardo Carboni said in an interview that he saw around one hundred actresses for the role of Matilde, but was sure from the beginning that Matilda De Angelis was the right one. He said she is an extremely talented actress and also had an aura that reminded him of the character he had in mind.