After securing the screen rights, David O. Selznick originally approached Orson Welles to play the role of Rochester opposite Selznick contractee Joan Fontaine. He got Aldous Huxley, John Houseman, and Robert Stevenson involved. Ultimately though, he sold the package to Darryl F. Zanuck and Twentieth Century Fox.
Orson Welles did enough work behind the scenes that the production company offered him a producer credit, which he turned down. Welles' official reason for this is a belief that a person who is not directing the movie shouldn't be "just" a producer. The influence of Welles is very clear, with various actors from his company (Agnes Moorehead, Erskine Sanford, Edith Barrett) playing supporting roles and Bernard Herrmann, who Welles had introduced to films, composing the music. However, Welles had nothing to do with the employment of John Houseman, his former producing partner and arch-enemy, as one of the screenwriters on the film. What Welles did not mention in interviews was the widespread rumor that he had directed a few scenes, but there are a few very striking moments which are stylistically at odds with the rest of the film and which suggest his presence behind the camera - the very first scene in the film and, later, the scene which introduces Welles to the film in the role of Rochester.
Writer and director Robert Stevenson's wife, Anna Lee, was an early choice for the role of Blanche Ingraham.
At the time of this movie's release, Joan Fontaine was twenty-five and Orson Welles was twenty-seven, though they portrayed characters several years younger (Fontaine) or older (Welles) than their true ages.