Reese Witherspoon had an accident shortly before filming started; her bruises and cuts are real. Instead of covering them with make-up or waiting until she healed more, Jeff Nichols decided to film her like that because it suited the character.
Over two thousand boys auditioned for the role of Neckbone.
Around half of the crew were Arkansas residents. In addition, the production hired over four hundred locals as extras.
Chris Pine was in talks for the title role in May 2011. Despite this, Matthew McConaughey was always writer and director Jeff Nichols' first choice, ever since seeing him in Lone Star (1996).
Writer and director Jeff Nichols was desperate to cast his Shotgun Stories (2007) and Take Shelter (2011) lead Michael Shannon in the film, but Shannon's participation in Man of Steel (2013) almost made it impossible. He was eventually able to clear out a few days to film the role of Galen.