Sara Paxton would have a 4am call-time every morning as she required two-and-one-half hours to get her hair and facial make-up applied, and then another two-and-one-half hours to have her tail fitted.
Sara Paxton's mermaid tail weighed over 100 pounds and was approximately 8 feet in length. It was crafted by the Australian makeup effects studio JMB FX, the same that created the tails seen in Fishtales (2007), H2O (2006) and its spin-of Mako Mermaids (2013).
Sara Paxton had to do a month of intensive swimming lessons in order to play the part of Aquamarine.
JMB FX Studio produced the mermaid tails for actress Sara Paxton. The tails were sculpted over Sara's body cast. Foam and silicone skins were produced for 4 tails, each tail was covered in over 5000 scales. A fully cable-controlled tail was also produced for the more complicated and subtle moves of the fluke that the suit tails could not perform.
Sara Paxton was originally cast as Cecilia, the villain, but insisted on auditioning for the titular character, citing her childhood dream of playing a mermaid.