Edward Norton turned down Il faut sauver le soldat Ryan (1998) to do this film. He and Tom Hanks were both nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor; neither won.
Before filming began, Edward Norton and Edward Furlong shaved their heads for their roles. Edward Norton also gained 30 pounds of muscle.
Seth wears a shirt during the basketball game featuring the number 88. This is a Nazi skinhead code for HH, or "Heil Hitler," H being the 8th letter of the alphabet. It also refers to a set of 88 precepts written by the neo-nazi leader David Lane. The 88 precepts are rules and concepts that all White Supremacists lived by.
Constant changes to the script by Edward Furlong and Edward Norton resulted in Tony Kaye being disappointed with the project and leaving him wanting to quit. Kaye claimed their tinkering with the script changed the script radically from his own vision of it. He was also reportedly so unsatisfied with Norton's performance that he still, to this day feels the movie is unfinished.