Referring to France Nuyen's firing from the film version of "The World of Suzie Wong," the famed show biz columnist Louella Parsons wrote the following in the daily newspaper, the Chicago American, on Tuesday, February 27, 1962 (page eight) when Nuyen was cast opposite Charlton Heston in Diamond Head (1962) in '62": "As for little Miss Nuyen, things have been going much better for her recently since her bad start when she was taken out of 'The World of Suzie Wong' when she put on too much poundage worrying over M. Brando." And in its review of the film, the TV Guide site also references the firing: "Nuyen was distressed at reports from California that her lover, Marlon Brando, was carrying on with another woman, and drowning her sorrows in food. The actress gained so much weight that she was fired from the part."
As an former student of the Royal Ballet School in London, a 20-year-old Nancy Kwan was discovered by producer Ray Stark after the coveted role of Suzie Wong was up for grabs when French-Vietnamese actress France Nuyen suffered a bout of chronic laryngitis.
Jean Negulesco was originally hired as director. He was fired during production and replaced by Richard Quine.
According to a TMC interview with Stefanie Powers, Nancy Kwan replaced France Nuyen in the title role of Suzie Wong after Nuyen "suffered a sudden case of pregnancy."