Christina Ricci was asked in an interview if it was difficult filming the nude scenes in this movie. She said "I trained my brain not to care about nudity at work. It's like going to the beach. You could spend the whole time obsessing, or you could just go to the beach, forget about how you look, and have a good time."
When he is first seen at the start of the film, Bel-Ami is looking very scruffy, dressed in shabby clothes and sporting a few days' worth of rough beard. His attire greatly improves over the course of the film, but, bafflingly, he never at any point appears properly shaven, as would be required of a gentleman, or anyone wishing to be thought one, in the polite French society of that period. The phenomenon of "designer stubble" was, of course, unknown anywhere for another 75 or more years.
Nicole Kidman was offered the role of Virginie Rousset, but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.
Both Natalia Tena and Robert Pattinson started in the Harry Potter film franchise, with Tena as Nymphadora Tonks and Pattinson as Cedric Diggory .