The tattoos on the cast and crew are as follows:
- Cecil - Otto Preminger - left forearm
- Cherish - Andy Warhol - thigh
- Lyle - Herschell Gordon Lewis - left breast
- Pam - Sam Peckinpah - left arm
- Chardonnay - Spike Lee - stomach
- Lewis - David Lynch - knuckles
- Fidget - William Castle - chest
- Raven - Kenneth Anger - chest
- Rodney - Almodovar (presumably Pedro Almodóvar) - right arm
- Petie - Fassbinder (presumably Rainer Werner Fassbinder) - left forearm
- Dyna - Sam Fuller (aka Samuel Fuller) - right forearm
The kidnapping of Honey Whitlock, who later joins her kidnappers' cause, is similar to the real-life story of how Patricia Hearst was kidnapped by, and later joined, The Symbionese Liberation Army, in the 1970s. Hearst appears in the movie and has appeared in all of John Waters's movies since Cry-Baby (1990).
John Waters had an interview with him published before this film was made in which the headline referred to him as "Cecil B. Demented". Waters thought the title was too good to pass up.
Maggie Gyllenhaal handpicked Jonathan Fiorucci out of the extras to be the guy she makes out with in the film's climax. Director John Waters later found out that Fiorucci's mother and his own mother are friends, adding "that only happens in Baltimore."
According to This Filthy World (2006), John Waters' inspiration for this film came when Film Threat Magazine told its readers to attack the readers of Premier Magazine, and some did.