The director wanted Lea Thompson and Tom Cruise to go undercover to remember what high school was like. They went to separate schools, and while Cruise was spotted after just one day because someone recognized him from Taps (1981), Thompson went four days, was asked out by many guys and got caught smoking.
In 2018, Lea Thompson stated she initially did not want the part, as the script required her to participate in two nude scenes. She told IndieWire "[The producers] wanted me to show my breasts twice in the script, I didn't even audition because I didn't want to take my shirt off, but I got the part and was like, 'Okay.'" But Tom Cruise persuaded the producers to drop one of the scenes, and volunteered to appear fully nude himself in the other to make her more comfortable. ""In the second, he said, 'Well, if she has to be naked, I'll be naked, too,'" Thompson said. "That's pretty badass! I've always been grateful to him for standing up to the producers."
Tom Cruise and Lea Thompson performed a majority of their own nudity in their love scene. However, body doubles were used for insert shots. The same body doubles were also used earlier in the film for insert shots in the make-out scene in the car.
Rifleman, the quarterback, and Shadow, the receiver, are always called by their nicknames (including in the credits), except once. During the pep rally scene when Riley is telling Stef that Tracy is pregnant, you can hear coach Nickerson off camera in the background if you listen close when he is introducing the players. Rifleman's name is Clarence Oliver and Shadow's name is Austin Williams.
Stef is supposed to be Serbian-American.