Shannon and Joseph's mean boss at the chicken plant is played by director Ron Howard's brother, Clint.

Three of Ron Howard's great-grandparents actually rode in the Great Land Rush of 1893, as depicted in the film.

Director Ron Howard wasn't happy with Nicole Kidman's facial reaction during the shooting of the scene where her character lifts the bowl covering Joseph's (her husband Tom Cruise's) crotch. Without telling Kidman, he asked Cruise to remove his underwear. Howard got the reaction he wanted, and it appears in the film.

Technically, Nicole Kidman's accent is incorrect. As a well-to-do landowner's daughter in Ireland at the time, she would have spoken with a largely English accent, but, as this probably would have confused international audiences, she was taught to speak in an educated Dublin accent. Ironically, when the film was released, Tom Cruise came under fire for his hokey - though technically genuine - accent, while no one picked up on Kidman's incorrect one.