In an interview, director Susanna White said of Stellan Skarsgård's full frontal nude scene: "Stellan is very Scandinavian, nudity was not embarrassing for him in any way. We did that scene day two of working together and usually with nude scenes the wardrobe people rush in with towels to cover the actor up, but he didn't want it. I would go in and discuss the scene with him and he would be starkers."
Source novelist John le Carré appears in uncredited cameos in both of the 2016 filmed adaptations of his novels, as a museum guard in Bern in Our Kind of Traitor (2016) and as a diner in episode four of The Night Manager (2016) [See: Episode #1.4 (2016)].
Producers Simon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell are both sons of the film's source novelist John le Carré whose real name is David Cornwell.
The Russian exteriors were filmed in Finland, with the interior of the Bolshoi Ballet recreated in London, England whilst The Dorchester Hotel in Mayfair in that city stood in for the Bellevue Hotel in Bern, Switzerland.
The incredible slow-motion opening sequence of ballet dancer Carlos Acosta was crafted by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. Director Susanna White said: "I knew if one man in the world could make something extraordinary out of this, take an idea and make it ten times better, it was Anthony. It was thrilling to explore the world of the movie with him."
John le Carré: Uncredited, the writer of the film's source novel of the same name appears as the ticket checker towards the end.