According to an article published by British newspaper The Daily Telegraph on November 16, 2004, Binoche snubbed Irons after he acted a French kiss a little too realistically in one of their love scenes. When questioned about the kiss during an interview published by The Daily Express on August 10, 2011, Irons answered: "Oh, I'm sure I did", and by way of explaining Binoche's distaste for his eagerness, said she was "a bit anti-man at the time" as she had just come out of a relationship. In an interview published by The Daily Telegraph on March 6, 2015, Binoche was asked which one of her British co-stars stands out for her, and she answered: "They're all in my heart, I tell you, even Jeremy Irons," and confirmed that they had a few problems together during the shooting.
Actor Rupert Graves, who plays Martyn Fleming, son of Dr. Stephen Fleming (Jeremy Irons), is only five years younger than Miranda Richardson, and is fifteen years younger than Irons, who both play his parents.
According to the website 'Strictly Film School', the film examines "the German concept of liebestod (explored by such varied artists as composer Richard Wagner and author Thomas Mann) [which] proposes the idea that true love cannot be attained without the complete abandonment of the will and submission to suppressed passion (hence, the literal translation of love and death)".
French actress Isabelle Adjani was originally cast as Anna Barton, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. American actress Jodie Foster was offered the part, but turned it down, because Foster didn't feel that she was right for the role. In the end, the character was cast with French actress Juliette Binoche.
Jeremy Irons later expressed regrets over how physically revealing his pivotal scene towards the end, regarding his on-screen son, turned out to be. He felt in retrospect that, because of his overly exposed nakedness, the focus of the audience was completely "on the wrong thing" rather than immersed in the serious turn of events of the story.