Cinematographer Sven Nykvist had lost much of his sight at the time of filming. Allen would describe the scenes to Nykvist so Nykvist could tell Allen how each scene should look. This partially became the basis of Allen's blind director in Hollywood Ending (2002).
Woody Allen was dissatisfied with a sequence that featured Vanessa Redgrave and re-shot it with Elaine Stritch. He eventually re-wrote the material for a younger character, played in the final movie by Bebe Neuwirth.
Allen wanted to hire Sir Kenneth Branagh for the lead role, but was unsure whether he could pull off an American accent. As Branagh was filming The Gingerbread Man (1998) at the time, Robert Altman screened most of the movie for him, and Branagh got the part.
Charlize Theron, who had been a model before becoming an actress, had publicly vowed never to play a model on-screen. Woody Allen was aware of this, and wrote her a letter specifically asking her to change her mind about that, so that she could appear in his movie.