This was first film to shoot in New York City after the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.
The glass featured as "Deep South Glass" is actually hand-blown glass made by Simon Pearce, a Vermont company named after Simon Pearce, who emigrated to the United States from Waterford, Ireland.
Jake's plane lands on Lake Peachtree in Peachtree City, Georgia. It is illegal to land a plane on Lake Peachtree, and the Peachtree City Police issued the production company a $300 ticket.
Charlize Theron was originally cast as Melanie Carmichael. Due to the actor's strike, she jumped to a ready-to-go movie, Trapped (2002). Reese Witherspoon was cast the same weekend that her previous film, Legally Blonde (2001), opened.
Oak Hill, the real name of the house Melanie pretends belongs to her family, is about 45 minutes from the interstate, and difficult to reach. To direct cast and crew to the site, yellow signs saying "SWA" with arrows pointing out the correct route were put up. Some Berry College students stole these signs as souvenirs.
Keni Thomas: lead singer of the band Cornbread that plays in the fair scene. He's a real-life survivor of Task Force Ranger, and is portrayed in the film Black Hawk Down (2001) (the trooper with the inhaler).