Juno Temple's first major role and her first audition. When she first told her parents she wanted to be an actress, they tried to talk her out of it saying "You can't just step into this and be good. You will have to work and you will have to fight for it." Her mom sent her to an open audition for this film to show her how much competition she'd have. But then Temple got hired. She got hired again a year later on her very next audition for Desejo e Reparação (2007). At that point, her mom said, "Fucking hell, well, surely it goes downhill after this?" It didn't. She ended up being cast in films and on TV almost every year.
Jason Reitman read the script and wanted to direct it. He called up the producers on the phone with the intention of getting the job. The producers answered: "We are in editing right now, but I hope you'll like the film when it comes out."
Nicholas Hoult auditioned for the role of Steven Connolly several times before was Andrew Simpson eventually cast.
Andrew Simpson was 16 years old at the time of filming. And he never hesitated to do a sex scene with Cate Blanchett.
Cate Blanchett, Dame Judi Dench, and Anne-Marie Duff played Queen Elizabeth I: Blanchett in Elizabeth (1998) and Elizabeth: A Era de Ouro (2007), Dench in Shakespeare Apaixonado (1998), and Duff in Elizabeth I: A Rainha Virgem (2005).