Stephen Lang enjoyed working with costar Brittany Murphy so much, he later tried out and was cast as Sheriff Brent Marken in Cherry Falls (1999). Scheduling conflicts prevented him from playing the role and the part eventually went to veteran actor Michael Biehn. Lang later admitted the only reason he wanted to be in the film was because he would have gotten to work with Murphy again.
All of Senator Avery's (Nick Nolte) lines, except for sparse words or lines in response to conversation, are real quotes from politicians.
Drummond Avery (Nick Nolte) is a state senator of an undisclosed state. The term of office and district represented are unknown.