Sir Jonathan Pryce commented on his physical resemblance to Pope Francis at the Toronto International Film Festival: "The day Pope Francis was declared Pope, the Internet was full of images of me and him, and 'Is Jonathan Pryce the Pope?' Even my son texted me, 'Dad are you the Pope?'"
Netflix recreated Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel masterpiece in under 10 weeks after the Vatican denied them access to film the Two Popes.
Director Fernando Meirelles only found out about Sir Jonathan Pryce while looking up photos of Pope Francis online. Side-by-side comparison photos of Pryce and Pope Francis would frequently appear in the search results. This prompted Fernando to look up Jonathan's filmography and interviews. Impressed by what he saw, Fernando gave the role to Pryce.
Like Pope Benedict XVI, Sir Anthony Hopkins is an accomplished pianist and actually plays the piano in this movie.
The screenplay was originally titled "The Pope." After Sir Anthony Hopkins was cast, the title was changed to "The Two Popes," at the request of his agent.