Bette Midler did not want to do another film and repeatedly turned down offers to appear in Freak Show. She was finally convinced to at least read the script and immediately said "I'll do it."
The first scene shot was the dance scene on the balcony between Billy (Alex Lawther) and Flip (Ian Nelson).
AnnaSophia Robb was attending NYU during filming and would shoot her scenes around her class schedule. She wanted to take part in the film despite the demands of school because she felt it was an interesting and important story to tell and she wanted to be part of it.
Scripted in 2015, Lynette (Abigail Breslin) was given the line "Make America Great Again" as a joke after Donald Trump announced it as his campaign slogan, when most people thought he would never get nominated, much less get elected. When Trump surprised the world with his 2016 presidential election win, the line became much more topical and timely, just in time for the 2017 release of the film..
Trudie Styler took over directing when the original director had to drop out due to personal conflicts.