Damian Chapa, Benjamin Bratt and Jesse Borrego lived with real gang members in East Los Angeles for three months in order to help the actors develop the characters they were portraying and perfect their roles in the film.
Adan Hernandez was commissioned to paint thirty paintings for the film. All the paintings that were in the film were done by him. Adan was in the Gallery opening scene as Gilbert.
The Hispanic prison gang "La Onda," depicted in this film, is a fictional creation of Jimmy Santiago Baca and Taylor Hackford, but the gang is based on the real-life Mexican Mafia prison gang. The other two gangs depicted were the "BGA" (Black Guerrilla Army) and the "AV'ers" (Aryan Vanguard). They represented the real life gangs the Black Guerrilla Family and the Aryan Brotherhood, respectively.
The Pino, the iconic tree shown throughout the film and symbolized the brotherhood, still stands and is now considered a historical monument and will not be permitted to be cut down for any reason.
Daniel Vazquez, who plays the Warden of San Quentin Prison, was not a professional actor, and was in fact the actual Warden at the time of filming. When Director Taylor Hackford asked the warden for permission to film at San Quentin, he shared the script of the prison scenes sequence. Daniel was so impressed with the reality of the script and story, that he immediately began proceedings to allow the film crew to have access to the prison.
Daniel Vazquez retired in early 1994 and is now a Corrections Consultant and Investigator who provides expert analysis on prisoner behavior and street gang validation.
Daniel Vazquez retired in early 1994 and is now a Corrections Consultant and Investigator who provides expert analysis on prisoner behavior and street gang validation.