Actress Adèle Haenel came out at the French Academy Awards in 2013 by thanking her girlfriend, filmmaker Celine Sciamma, whom she met while making this movie.
Director Céline Sciamma said she had no trouble persuading the three leading actresses to join. Although, nevertheless, there are a few intimate scenes in the film, like the sex scene between Adèle Haenel and Pauline Acquart, and the two sequences in which Louise Blachère shows her round body completely naked. "In the casting, I told each girl the whole scenario, including that scene in which one girl deflowers the other. You can't just say to a girl, 'if you're naked, that's your character.' No, it's her body. So I was always honest. I said that I would not betray them, that I would not take anything from them, that they should give me something. By itself. If they wanted to participate, they knew how far they had to go. I was surprised that they were immediately excited. But the story was really about them, they felt connected to it. And those parents were just as excited. They even helped me to lie to the government because I had given them a clean version of the script to convince them. The parents supported that story," Sciamma recalled.
Céline Sciamma's directorial film debut; she was also the writer.
Adèle Haenel wasn't doubled in her swimming scenes. "I learned synchronized swimming with a coach. I learned all the surface movements, the arm movements, and so for once it was work, because I spent like 40 hours in rehearsals to learn what's in the film. So on the surface, I do exactly what the other girls do," the actress said.
Pauline Acquart's debut.