Glória Pires, Adriana Esteves and Débora Bloch were all considered for the main role of the Juma which eventually went to Cristiana Oliveira.
There are three shape-shifter characters in the series: Juma and her mother Maria Marruá (Cássia Kis), both who become jaguars, and the mythical Elder from the River (Claudio Marzo) who turns into an anaconda.
Soundmen purposely included a panther meowing over the actual brief roars of the jaguar, as they felt they would sound scarier.
The Elder's anaconda was named Rafaela and also appeared in Rede Globo's miniseries Mad Maria (2005). She died in 2009 under natural causes.
Carolina Ferraz initially turned down the role of Irma. She was forced by Manchete executive producers to accept it, or she would have been fired from the channel.