The reason why John Huston's name is incorrectly spelled as "Jhon Huston" in the credits is because the producers hired a little girl to write the titles. The producers decided to leave it the way it was because the story was very strange anyway. There is also a shot of a headstone in a cemetery that has the word angel misspelled as " angle".
Actor Brad Dourif was originally sent the script to audition for the character Enoch Emery. But Brad had such a good feeling about the Hazel Motes character, Dourif asked to audition for that instead. The problem was, another actor, Tommy Lee Jones, was currently director John Huston's first choice for the part. However, things didn't go to plan. Jones had to drop out, giving Dourif the opportunity to audition like he wanted to, and then landing the role of Hazel for himself.
Co-screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald reports that many of the small roles were played by non-professional locals from the Macon, GA, area, including the prostitute (a real-life prostitute) and the sheriff (the real-life sheriff of Macon). [source: interview with Benedict Fitzgerald in Criterion DVD special features]
Reportedly, the size of the production crew for this picture totaled to only around twenty-five people.
The homeless characters in an alley who are startled by a man dressed as a gorilla were played by real-life homeless people from Macon, GA, who were genuinely startled. Co-screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald reports that the filmmakers supplied them with small amounts of vodka, and did not explain to them that the "gorilla" would show up and that the cameras would be running. [source: interview with Benedict Fitzgerald in Criterion DVD special features]