The plot also has similarities with the French movie Lune froide (1991), itself inspired by a Charles Bukowski short story ("The Copulating Mermaid of Venice").
Besides Lune froide (1991) and Great Expectations, the plot of the video also bares some semblance to the final segment of the 1987 Belgian film Crazy Love (1987) (which in itself, was also inspired by the writings of Charles Bukowski, in particular "The Copulating Mermaid of Venice, California"). However, only in the video for "Mary Jane's Last Dance" was any sexual contact between Tom Petty and Kim Basinger ("the corpse") not shown despite none the less, being implied.
Kim Basinger was not the first choice for the video. Tom Petty wanted Sharon Stone, but she didn't answer his request. Petty wanted a raving beauty to play the corpse so it would make sense why his character keeps her around.
According to Kim Basinger in a June 2015 interview with Marlow Stern of The Daily Beast, both she and Tom Petty were so shy that they just said three words to each other the whole time. Basinger added that she could never forget how heavy the wedding dress that she wore was.
During the final scenes of the video, Tom Petty is seen carrying Kim Basinger through a cave before placing her in the water. The cave is located at Leo Carrillo State Park, California, where many movies and television shows were filmed.