Although he is known as a fashion designer, director Tom Ford chose to leave the costuming in the film strictly to the costume designer. Not a single Tom Ford product appears in the film, as Ford "didn't want a commercial."
Focus Features paid $20 million for global distribution rights after a heavy bidding battle in Cannes. This is the highest amount ever paid for a film at a festival.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson was cast as Ray Marcus after Tom Ford had dined with Aaron and his wife and longtime Ford friend Sam Taylor-Johnson. Aaron did not think he'd be suitable for the part at all, but over the course of dinner Ford saw a glimmer of something that he found intriguing in Aaron's facial expressions as he recounted a story at the dinner table. He then won a Golden Globe Award for his performance.
Susan and Edward were both from Hastings, Texas. Edward would later give Tony, Laura, and India the town's name that he and Susan were raised in as their surname in his novel.
Tom Ford: [nude people shown in a somewhat surrealistic and dream-like manner at the beginning of the film] The film begins with nude, obese women dancing in slow motion. In A Single Man (2009), the film opens with a nude man floating aimlessly in the water.