During filming, Juliette Lewis actually broke Tom Sizemore's nose when she slammed Scagnetti's face into the wall.
Coca-Cola approved the use of the Polar Bear ads for its product in the movie without having a full idea of what the movie was about; when the Board of Directors saw the finished product, they were furious.
According to Oliver Stone, Rodney Dangerfield didn't understand the film during shooting, and didn't understand what Stone was trying to do by shooting such a dark subject, as a father molesting his daughter, in the style of a 1950s sitcom. As such, he found it very difficult to perform his part. However, Stone was delighted that when the film came out, Dangerfield's performance was hailed as one of the movie's strongest points.
Oliver Stone has always maintained that the film is a satire on how serial killers are adored by the media for their horrific actions, and that those who claim the violence in the movie itself is a cause of societal violence have missed the point of the movie entirely.
Woody Harrelson said he was cast because Oliver Stone told him he had the look of violence in his eyes.
Don Murphy: One of the jovial guards who gets shot and killed by Mickey, when he begins his escape from prison, after the interview with Wayne Gale.