The first film to win all three major awards (Palme D'or, Best Director, and Best Actor) at the Cannes Film Festival. Also, it was unanimously chosen for the Palme D'or.
John Turturro took classes at a secretarial school to learn how to use a typewriter for the role. Between takes, he wrote a rough outline for Romance & Cigarettes (2005), written on the typewriter he used in the film. The Coen brothers executive produced that film.
The first voice heard in the movie, an actor on the stage performing Barton's play, is John Turturro's.
The parts played by John Turturro, John Goodman, Jon Polito and Steve Buscemi were all written with them in mind.
Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen after a trip to see Baby Boom (1987) while suffering writer's block writing Crocevia della morte (1990).
Frances McDormand: The female voice heard on stage at the beginning of the film is that of Joel Coen's wife.
Barry Sonnenfeld: as the page calling for Barton Fink in the restaurant. This is Joel Coen and Ethan Coen's first movie without Sonnenfeld as cinematographer.