- Sigourney Weaver is almost a foot taller than Holly Hunter, thus for many scenes Weaver would be sitting down to make their heights appear more equal.
- The climactic bathroom scene took 8 days to film.
- To research her role, Sigourney Weaver consulted with leading forensic psychiatrist 'Park Deitz', who had interviewed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
- Holly Hunter hung about with several homicide detectives in downtown L.A. to help her get into her character.
- In earlier versions of the script, the character of M.J. Monahan was written as a man and a romance would develop between Monahan and Helen Hudson.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- SPOILER: Serial killer Peter Foley, although not yet identified to the audience, appears in two early scenes in the film. He's sitting in Dr. Hudson's lecture audience and is also in the police station after the "Boston Strangler" murder and says "Hi!" to Nicoletti.
- SPOILER: As well as the real-life serial killers that Foley is identified as copying, his dressing up as a dead cop is a homage to a trick used by the fictitious serial killer Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
- SPOILER: In climactic bathroom reenactment scene, Sigourney Weaver actually spat in William McNamara's face without his prior knowledge from rehearsals. The reaction of anger and shock in his face is quite real due to his surprise.
- SPOILER: Sigourney Weaver's stuntwoman had her nose broken in the fight scene with William McNamara.
- SPOILER: In one scene, serial killer Peter Foley uses the name "Peter Kurten". This is also a copycat reference to the so-called "Vampire of Dusseldorf", on whose activities 'Fritz Lang''s M (1931) was based.
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