Toni Collette said Peter Greenaway chose her by accident for the role of Griselda. "I went in for another part and I had just had my head shaved and I had a Buddha hanging around my neck. Afterwards I thought, 'This is going to teach me to go to an audition looking like that'. " In fact Greenaway chose her for playing a woman who is blackmailed into serving on a brothel and posing as a lascivious nun. In the role, she was required not merely to appear nude but with a shaven pubis. "Peter Greenaway's odd, but very interesting. And he let me try everything I suggested," added Collette.