Robert Downey Jr. was considered for the role of Max Baron and even screen tested with Susan Sarandon.
Originally "White Palace" was to have been "White Castle", and in the novel specific reference is made to a real White Castle location at the intersection of S. Grand Blvd. and Gravois Ave. in south St. Louis, Mo., but the White Castle chain wouldn't give permission for their trademarked name to be used in either the novel or the movie, or allow the use of any of their restaurants for film locations. The diner used for the film's "White Palace" restaurant tried to change its name to White Palace after the film was released, but the studio refused permission, so it was renamed "White Knight" by its owners instead. It still exists and is open for business.
Although James Spader and Susan Sarandon had never met before filming began in late October 1989, it was not unusual for them to walk onto the set holding hands like a couple of old school chums. Their chemistry on set, added to the steamy sex scenes, had inevitably given rise to rumors of off-screen romance. In a 2014 playboy interview, Spader said, "Susan Sarandon and I became very close, good friends making White Palace. I was intrigued by our relationship in that movie. I was the youngest in my family, and most of the time I spent in my house was around people who were older than me. When I was young, a lot of my sexual fantasies were about older women. [...] We were driving around in a car after we met, and she said something about the content of the movie, like, "Aren't you nervous or apprehensive?" Maybe she was trying to make me feel better or something, but I said, "We're going to be just fine." Look, we've certainly heard stories about people who fucking hated each other and came up with a wonderful film. But it seems to me that you have to fall in love with the person, because film looks right into your head."
In the January 1995 issue of Movieline magazine, Susan Sarandon revealed she was very nervous before doing the infamous oral sex scene with James Spader. "Every beat of that scene was very clearly designated. I think it's very hard to be naked in a scene and not be upstaged by your nipples. People don't even hear what you're saying for the first 30 seconds if you're standing there nude, so it has to be for some very specific reason. And you have to know what the scene is about. I remember when we did that scene in White Palace, I was always saying things like, 'But how could I be doing that because, really, where are my hands now?' Thank God Jimmy Spader was such a great person to work with," Sarandon said.
Debut cinema movie produced screenplay of writer Ted Tally who would very soon go on to write the script for The Silence of the Lambs (1991) released in the following year and then after Tally would in 1992 for that win an Academy Award for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Oscar.