John Boyd West plays his real life father Red West, a bodyguard to Elvis Presley and his life long best friend. He would go on to play his father again in Elvis (2005).
Sam's mirror image is of Michael St. Gerard as Elvis Presley. He also played Elvis in Great Balls of Fire! (1989), Heart of Dixie (1989) and Elvis (1990).
At the talent show, the sax player "Little Billy C" of Hope, Arkansas, is a reference to future president Bill Clinton.
Dean Stockwell's then-wife Millie Perkins co-starred with Elvis Presley in Wild in the Country (1961) and later played his mother Gladys Presley in Elvis (1990), in which Michael St. Gerard also played Elvis.