Director
Adrian Lyne used emotionally manipulative tactics on
Kim Basinger during the shooting to elicit the performance he wanted from the somewhat new actress, which Basinger later criticized harshly. For example, Lyne did not allow
Mickey Rourke and Basinger to talk to each other off-set. The two were kept isolated from each other and Lyne would tell Basinger rumors about how Rourke intended to make her like or dislike him so that she would carry that attitude into the scene.
Lyne would also offer Rourke performance notes, but Basinger none, in order to unnerve her. In a very unusual and expensive move along these lines, Lyne shot the film sequentially, so that Basinger's actual emotional breakdown over time would be effectively translated to the screen.
