* ActingForTwo:
** [[spoiler:Creator/ChristianBale portrays both Alfred Borden and his twin, as well as Fallon, which is one of the twins in disguise]].
** Jackman plays both Robert Angier and his double, Root. [[spoiler:As well as all his clones.]]
* AllStarCast: Creator/HughJackman, Creator/ChristianBale, Creator/ScarlettJohansson, Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/AndySerkis, and Music/DavidBowie.
* CaliforniaDoubling:
** Los Angeles was used for England in most of the scenes set there.
** Played with for the Angier storyline, as Angier's trip to Colorado was filmed in Colorado, however, the town of Telluride in the southwest part of the state is standing in for Colorado Springs, due to being an old mining town with more buildings left over from the 1890s time period, compared to Colorado Springs (which has become a modernized city of its own), and it would take less work to disguise the environments.
* CreatorChosenCasting: Creator/ChristopherNolan only had Music/DavidBowie in mind for Nikola Tesla "because his function in the story is a small but very important role". Bowie initially declined the role, but Nolan flew out to him personally to tell him that he was the only person he imagined for the role, and that his larger than life persona would make the idea of Tesla building a cloning device believable. Upon hearing this, he changed his mind.
* DawsonCasting: Nikola Tesla was in his mid forties at the time the story is set while David Bowie was fifty-nine when he played the part.
* DuelingMovies: One of two period pieces that focus on magicians to come out in 2006 (along with ''Film/TheIllusionist2006'', which is actually quite different). Both films even had magician Ricky Jay as a magic consultant!
** Christopher Priest was also not happy with both films being released in the same year as he is friends with the author who wrote the short story that became ''The Illusionist''. Initially Christopher Nolan had planned on making ''The Prestige'' before ''Film/BatmanBegins'' but that film ended up taking priority.
* DuelingStarsMovie: Unlike some films which use this trope, the chemistry between Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale is excellent.
* FakeAmerican: These too.
** Aussie Creator/HughJackman as the American Angier. [[spoiler:He's actually a FakeBrit, Lord Caldlow, ''pretending'' to be an American.]]
** Creator/AndySerkis, a Londoner, plays Alley with an excellent [[BigApplesauce New York]] accent.
* FakeBrit: Lots.
** Creator/ScarlettJohansson got some criticism for her accent as Olivia Wenscombe. Some theorize that the character is an American poorly faking a British accent, especially since the other actors clearly have had some vocal coaching.
** Creator/DanielDavis of ''Series/TheNanny'', using the exact same accent as he did in said show. [[note]]He had previously used that very same accent as Moriarty in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''.[[/note]]
** Creator/PiperPerabo as Angier's wife Julia.
* FakeNationality: Music/DavidBowie (British) as UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla ([[{{UsefulNotes/Croatia}} Croatian]] [[[{{UsefulNotes/Austria}} Austrian Empire]]]-born ethnic [[{{UsefulNotes/Serbia}} Serb]] and naturalized U.S. citizen).
* IronyAsSheIsCast:
** Ricky Jay, the film's magic consultant, plays an unremarkable stage magician.
** Of all people, sex symbol Music/DavidBowie plays the celibate Tesla (worth noting that Tesla was bit of a sex symbol in his time, despite being celibate, and even dated Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of the day).
* PlayingAgainstType: Hugh Jackman has made a career of playing handsome nice guys, or [[Film/XMenFilmSeries playing a clawed mutant]] that is a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Here he plays a VillainProtagonist on a ProtagonistJourneyToVillain.
* PlayingTheirOwnTwin: Hugh Jackman plays both Angier and Root, who is Angier's double. [[spoiler: Christian Bale turns out to be doing this too]].
* PromotedFanboy: Andy Serkis, a big fan of David Bowie, enjoyed his experience of working with him very much.
* StarMakingRole: This film is Creator/RebeccaHall's breakout role.
* ThrowItIn: Creator/RebeccaHall ad-libbed the "I know what you are" line. She initially felt terrible about it, fearing she was giving away the ending. But the director liked it and left it in. Bale seems to have some EnforcedMethodActing as Borden is stunned and immediately explodes.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/SamMendes expressed interest in directing. But the original author wanted Christopher Nolan, having loved ''{{Film/Following}}'' and ''{{Film/Memento}}''.
** Creator/JudeLaw was cast as one of the leads in 2004. He dropped out of the long-gestating ''Film/IHeartHuckabees'' to take this project because he was going through a divorce at the time and wanted a higher paying project to pay the settlement. The director of that film, Creator/DavidORussell, ran into Nolan at a party and put him in a headlock, demanding that he give him Law back. The next day, Nolan and Law spoke on the phone and mutually agreed that he should go back to ''Huckabees''.
** Creator/JoshHartnett was considered for the part of Robert Angier.
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