Saoirse Ronan landed the role of Susie Salmon based on an audition tape she sent in. They were so impressed by the tape that no meetings or further auditions were necessary before offering her the lead role in this movie.
In Alice Sebold's original novel, a disturbing rape scene is recounted in great detail, an experience that Sebold had as a young woman. Writer, producer, and director Sir Peter Jackson chose to omit this section of the story, feeling that the re-enactment of the ordeal would have not just overwhelmed this movie but been too traumatic a sequence for the young Saoirse Ronan to endure. Alice Sebold reportedly disagreed with this omission. Stanley Tucci, for his part, claimed that it was difficult enough for him to play scenes in which George was thinking about molesting Susie and that he never would have agreed to perform an actual rape scene.
Despite the fact that the violence in the novel had been toned down for this movie, Stanley Tucci still had a hard time portraying George Harvey.
Alice Sebold, author of the novel, stated that she preferred an unknown actress for the role of Susie Salmon. After she was cast in this movie, the relatively unknown Saoirse Ronan was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Atonement (2007).
The main reason Ryan Gosling quit his role as Jack before filming started was that during read-through sessions with writer, producer, and director Sir Peter Jackson and the rest of the cast, he felt that, at 26, he was too young for the role. Jack was supposed to be in his late 30s. Despite repeated assurances from Jackson that he could portray Jack with proper make-up, Gosling insisted that, as a method actor, he would not be able to portray the character well enough, and was finally let go. Mark Wahlberg was brought in only one day before shooting started.
Peter Jackson: Man with a movie camera in the pharmacy, when Jack Salmon picks up the prints from the first roll of Susie's film.