Kevin Bacon met several bike messengers himself. Bacon said: "You can make your own schedule, and you can work hard and make more money, or work less and make less money. You're really your own boss. Most messengers are on their way to some place else. Some of them are college kids, and some are actors. Some of them are serious cyclists who want to race and they figure this is the best kind of work they can get because they're constantly training, but others are doing it because it's what they do for a living. Even though the guys may be eclectic, there is a strong sense of commitment". Producer
Daniel Melnick said: "The actual bike messengers have one thing in common: problems with authority. They gravitate to this job because they can be their own bosses. No one is dependent on them but themselves". Director
Thomas Michael Donnelly said of Bacon's character that Jack Casey "is a survivor on a very basic level. He returns to a more primitive tribal world to regain his spirit. Only then will he be able, if he wants, to return to a more mechanized, intellectual world". All these three key production personnel of Bacon, Melnick, and Donnelly, all had a strong sense of the origin of the film's story and character.
