Scott Avett of The Avett Brothers auditioned for the role of James Forester. Avett told Rolling Stone that for his audition, he read an emotional scene with Anne Hathaway: "It's an emotional scene, and Anne starts welling up in tears. I was like, 'Oh my God. How is she doing that?' It was obvious to me that I was out of my league."
In an interview, Anne Hathaway discusses listening to the song "Thank You For Nothing" from Brooklyn-based artist Elizabeth & the Catapult to help her through a scene in Les Misérables (2012). In a scene in the subway, Anne's character records a woman playing the accordion. The woman is Elizabeth Ziman, of Elizabeth & the Catapult, and the song she's playing is an instrumental rendition of "Thank You For Nothing".
The steel guitar that Johnny Flynn's character James Forester is often seen with is own guitar and is featured in many of his music videos.
In the scene where Franny's mom, Karen, is reminiscing of her years in Paris, she talks about being an Arkansas girl in Paris. Karen is played by Mary Steenburgen, who is a Newport, Arkansas native.
One of the entries in Henry's book details a band called Jane + the Austens. Anne Hathaway, who plays Henry's sister Franny, starred in the titular role of Jane Austen in "Becoming Jane".