The characters of Marion's parents are played by Delpy's real life parents, Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet.
When asked why she edited the film herself Julie Delpy said that, because of budget constraints, it was a choice between either hiring an editor or an editing bay. Since an editing bay was the more essential item, she took on the role of editor out of necessity.
While working on the movie, Julie Delpy claims she didn't watch any romantic comedies for inspiration. She did, however, watch Jaws (1975) several times. The arguments between Jake and Marion, she said, resembled a shark lurking in the water.
Adam Goldberg appears at the beginning of Before Sunrise (1995) as a young man sleeping on the train.