One day during filming, costume designer Milena Canonero, who is famously dedicated to her craft, disappeared and was nowhere to be found. It was discovered eventually that she had flown to Rome to purchase fabric for a handkerchief David Bowie is supposed to wear. Unable to find fabric she liked in London, Canonero had flown to Rome at her own expense to find the fabric she needed instead.
David Bowie said that, in order to make his voice suitably hoarse for when he aged so drastically in the movie, he stood on the George Washington Bridge every night and screamed all the punk rock songs he knew.
Tony Scott discovered the rock group Bauhaus in a London nightclub and decided to put them in the movie.
This film is dedicated in memory of Tony Scott's brother Frank Scott. Tony's big brother, Ridley Scott dedicated Blade Runner (1982) to Frank.