James Gandolfini is only a year older than Aida Turturro, who plays his faux-daughter in the film. Also, his other daughter is played by Mary-Louise Parker, who is in fact merely three years younger than him.
The movie was delayed for almost two years because of James Gandolfini's commitment to The Sopranos (1999).
Writer-director John Turturro chose the songs featured in this film before he had secured their rights. While waiting for Gandolfini to be free from shooting The Sopranos (1999), the director went around to secure these rights from their songwriters and singers.
Although the film was shown at the Venice Film Festival and had an official release in the UK in 2006, the movie was not released in the US for years. This was mainly due to the fact that MGM was bought by a consortium headed by Sony in 2005, which led to a legal mess of whom, either MGM or Sony has the rights to the movie. In August 2007 director John Turturro decided to distribute the movie with his own money.
According to director John Turturro, Kate Winslet sprained her ankle during filming and therefore couldn't get on top of James Gandolfini for a sex scene without hurting herself. Instead, Turturro had Winslet bounce on a small exercise ball to simulate sex. She also had two prop guys holding her so she wouldn't fall.