Greta Gerwig and John Turturro originally signed on for the two main parts, but both had to bow out before shooting began. Gerwig was replaced with Vicky Krieps, and Turturro with Owen Wilson. However, Owen Wilson later declined with mere weeks to go before shooting. Mia Hansen-Løve and her producer decided to shoot half of the movie in summer 2018 without an actor in the male lead. The second half was shot one year later, in summer 2019 with Tim Roth finally cast in the male lead.
Writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve had only met Tim Roth a couple of times prior to filming his scenes and was intimidated by him. The two clashed on set, with Roth for example refusing to film a scene of his character swimming, as the water was too cold. Lead actress Vicky Krieps noted that there was a culture clash between the two while co-star Gabe Klinger went further, claiming that "Roth was a total jerk" with a "frail ego" who "liked to make sure everyone knew he was off-limits and on a superior plane", who "made the experience of the shoot deeply unpleasant" and who made crew members cry. Hansen-Løve felt that they learned to work together in the end and that the tension between her and Roth ultimately enriched the film.
The relationship between Chris and Tony draws inspiration from writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve's own 15 year relationship with filmmaker Olivier Assayas.
In a 2021 Q & A with Film at Lincoln Center, writer-director Mia Hansen-Løve spoke about how she came to set the film on Ingmar Bergman's home island of Fårö and how a chance meeting inspired her: "I think first came the idea of making a film about a couple of directors, but that idea was with me for many years. I think I waited for the right time. And that happened when the idea of Fårö came. That's when the film became real to me. It was really like a match between a place and an idea for a film. So I went there, I think it was in 2014 or '15 the first time, and after that I went there actually every year for 5 years. But the first time when I came, I already had the idea of the film but I wasn't sure about how it would be when I would confront my fantasy of Fårö to the real experience of it. And I went there and I met Hampus Nordenson, who you see in the film. He plays his own part... That's why I kept his name, to make it really clear that it's really him. I went there and I was showing one of my films and he was moderating the Q & A and actually drove me around the island. And I think it's really that meeting with him, that was a decisive step for me. That's when the film started to really become real and the machine of fiction really started when I met him."