Toni Collette had to gain weight to portray "the Rubenesque Harriet" and she explained, "I think it's important for people to look real in films. There's a tendency to go Barbie doll and I don't agree with that at all."
Emma and Mr. Knightley's dance is called "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot" (to the tune of the same name). (A "maggot" is "a whimsical fancy.") This same tune and dance were previously used in Pride and Prejudice (1995) for Elizabeth Bennet's dance with Mr. Darcy at the Netherfield Ball.
Jeremy Northam revealed that when he first tried to read 'Emma', he did not get very far and was not a fan. When he read the script for the film, he was initially considered for another role, but he wanted to play George Knightley. He stated "When I met the director, we got on very well and we talked about everything except the film. At the end of it, he said he thought Knightley was the part for me, so I didn't have to bring up the issue at all." Northam added that Knightley's faith in Emma becoming a better person was one of the reasons he loved the character.
Mrs. Bates and Miss Bates, mother and daughter in the film, are played by real-life mother and daughter Phyllida Law and Sophie Thompson (who are also real-life mother and sister to Academy-Award-winning actress and screenwriter Emma Thompson). Thompson revealed that it was a coincidence that she and her mother were cast alongside each other, as the casting director had their names on separate lists.
Ewan McGregor accepted the role of Frank Churchill because he thought it would be something different from his previous role in Trainspotting (1996).