Although this is a work of fiction, it is centered around a real person. Norman Lindsay was a real-life artist and author in Australia during the early 1900s. Several of his books have been adapted into movies, including Age of Consent (1969) which tells a different version of this same story.
Tara Fitzgerald deliberately withheld from getting involved in any of the cast and crew's get-togethers and parties, as it helped her with her characterization of an uptight, repressed woman.
Fiilmed primarily at the real Norman Lindsay's home and 49-acre property, where he lived until his death in 1969. It is now a museum and art gallery.
Hugh Grant considered this one of his favorite shoots, stating in an interview with "Variety" in 2002 that "it was a cast of mainly Australian models and we were stuck in a hotel in the Blue Mountains and having a party every night".