Reportedly, Warren Beatty reshot some scenes up to 35 times. Paul Sorvino said he did as many as 70 takes for one scene, and Maureen Stapleton said she did as many as 80 takes for another. Reportedly, of this, she famously once said to Warren Beatty, "Are you out of your fucking mind?" This earned her a round of applause from the crew.
Jack Nicholson once got so frustrated at having to do so many takes of a scene with Diane Keaton that he snapped at Warren Beatty, "Just tell me what the fuck you want and I'll do it."
Gene Hackman agreed to appear in the film in a small role, and appearing in just two scenes, as a favor to friend Warren Beatty, for his gratitude to him helping Hackman with his career, when Beatty got him cast in Lilith (1964) and Bonnie and Clyde (1967).
With this film, Warren Beatty became the third person to be nominated for Academy Awards in the three categories of Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay in a film which was also nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Earlier people to do this had been Woody Allen for Annie Hall (1977), and Orson Welles for Citizen Kane (1941).
In the mid-1980s, ABC wanted to broadcast an edited version of the film. Warren Beatty refused to allow an edited version to be shown, so that version was never aired.
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