Jason Schwartzman came to his audition wearing a prep-school blazer which sported a Rushmore patch he had made himself.
On the first day of principal photography, Wes Anderson delivered his directions to Bill Murray in a hushed whisper, so awed was he to be working with the actor. Graciously, Murray deferred publicly to Anderson, helped haul equipment, and when Disney denied a helicopter scene that would have cost seventy-five thousand dollars, he gave Anderson a blank check to cover the cost.
Bill Murray genuinely found Keith McCawley and Ronnie McCawley, who play his sons, annoying (much like their screen characters), and many of the scenes where he lashes out at them and insults them were improvised.
When Bill Murray first read the script, he thought it was so fantastic that he said he wanted to do it so badly he would do it for free.
The pictures of Ms. Cross's (Olivia Williams) dead husband in her bedroom are pictures of Owen Wilson.
Wes Anderson: The first voice that appears in the film and tries to solve the problem to the equation in Max's dream scene. Anderson can also be seen at the part after the play sitting in the background behind Max.