Juliette Binoche was originally cast in the Mira Sorvino role. She had to pull out at the last minute. She is thanked in the movie credits.
The character of Dr. Van Horn was originally written for novelist Salman Rushdie, a good friend of Paul Auster. Because the fatwah issued against Rushdie by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 had not been lifted, production costs would have exploded because of the necessary security to guard Rushdie. The part eventually went to Willem Dafoe.