Ken Russell originally wanted to cast Tilda Swinton in the role of Lady Sylvia Marsh, but she turned down the role after reading the script. Amanda Donohoe was cast instead.
“I always admire someone who really dares to be bad”, said Donohoe of Russell. “They can be brilliant or perfectly dreadful, but they’re never boring. And I’d just been on this string of films and television films in the last two years, all pretty heavy stuff, and I thought ‘Well, why not do a film that doesn’t mean anything at all?'”
