The bare-breasted prostitutes were not put in the film to make it more risqué, but rather to add a note of historical authenticity. Venetian law at the time required all prostitutes to bare their breasts because the Christian authorities were concerned about rampant homosexuality in their city.
Cate Blanchett was set to play Portia, but had to drop out at the last minute after discovering she was pregnant.
Dustin Hoffman was interested in playing Shylock; however, when he contacted director Michael Radford about it, Al Pacino had already been cast. In fact, in 1989, Hoffman had starred as Shylock in both the London and subsequent Broadway productions of "Merchant" directed by Sir Peter Hall.
Ricky Gervais turned down the role of Launcelot Gobbo, a role which went to his The Office (2001) co-star Mackenzie Crook.
Peter O'Toole almost got a version up and running in 1970, but a change of management at MGM led to it being cancelled. This is actually the first non-TV, feature film adaptation of "The Merchant of Venice" that was produced for a theatrical release.