Despite the tense relationship on-screen, Kevin Bacon recalled it was an absolute blast working with the boys and other extras who played inmates, to the point where it was difficult to joke around between takes and then return to a his abusively strict character.
Author Lorenzo Carcaterra has claimed that his book, on which the movie is based, is a true story of his childhood. When the New York legal community went on record stating that no cases resembling the events of his book could be found in any court records, Carcaterra refused to discuss it. Carcaterra's school attendance records show he couldn't have been in prison for as long as he said, and he couldn't have been in prison at the dates given for certain events in the book. David Stout, a New York Times reporter who did a story on the controversy, said in an interview that he could find nothing in the newspaper's extensive library, or anywhere else, that resembled the case. Carcaterra claims that names and locations were changed to avoid legal issues and stands behind his story. Many people from his youth came forward to say nothing like this happened to him.
Brad Pitt is not fond of his performance on the movie: "I think I was a disservice to it. This is the period where I really started getting confused and discombobulated. Because [my career] started blowing up, for one. Suddenly, I had a lot of people in my ear telling me what I should do and what I shouldn't do."
In the VHS release, a disclaimer at the end states that no court records were found of the alleged murder, that authorities at the Wilkinson Home for Boys stated that no such conditions ever existed, and that Lorenzo Carcaterra stands by his story. In the DVD release, there are no such disclaimers, nor anything to imply that the movie is based on a true story. Both versions only state that the movie is "based on the book."
During filming, Brad Renfro and Joe Perrino wore colored contact lenses so they would have the same colored eyes as Brad Pitt and Jason Patric, who played the characters as adults.
Barry Levinson: [Ralph Tabakin] (Warden) has appeared in every Levinson picture from Diner (1982) to Liberty Heights (1999). Levinson, a Baltimore native, is also an Executive Producer, and sometimes director, of Homicide (1993), where Tabakin had a recurring role.