This is the second movie to have two actresses nominated for an Academy Award for playing the same role in the same movie. The first was Titanic (1997). In both movies, Kate Winslet played the younger version in the dual-nominee role.
Kate Winslet has appeared nude in several of her movies, but most notably in this movie, in which she plays young Iris Murdoch. Despite her willingness to act in the buff when the role calls for it, Kate isn't exactly fond of the awkward scenes. "I hate it! Listen, make no mistake, I just get on it", she said in an interview with V Magazine. "I just go in and say 'Oh f*ck let's do it' and boom. If you complain about it or procrastinate, it's not going to go away. It's a profoundly bizarre thing to do. As actors you talk about it all the time. You can literally be tangled in sheets, and you turn to the other actor and say 'What the f*ck are we doing?' Dear Mum, at work today I had so-and-so's left nut sack pressed against my cheek. It's sort of unethical if you think about it in those terms."
This movie also marks the second time that Dame Judi Dench, and another actress playing the same part, have been nominated for an Oscar. Previously, Dench won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for playing Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1998), the same year that Cate Blanchett was nominated for playing the part in Elizabeth (1998).
Miramax Films juggled the schedules of this and their other movies, L'importanza di chiamarsi Ernest (2002) and The Shipping News - Ombre dal profondo (2001), so that Dame Judi Dench could appear in all three.