Trivia / The Holiday

• Awesome, Dear Boy: Cameron Diaz signed on after reading parts of the script, as she was a Nancy Meyers fan.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Arthur is supposed to be a frail old man who needs to rebuild his strength, but Eli Wallach was so energetic and spry that Nancy Meyers had to keep reminding him to slow down on camera.
• Playing Against Type:
  • While Jack Black is known for playing musicians, playing a romantic lead is not something you expect from him.
  • Kate Winslet was known more for Period Piece work at the time of this film - a romantic comedy was something she was eager to try out. She even studied Screwball Comedy films to make sure she'd get the vocal cadence and physicality right.
• So My Kids Can Watch: Inverted. One reason that Jack Black signed on is that he wanted to make a movie that his mother could enjoy.
• Throw It In!: Dustin Hoffman's cameo in the video store scene was not part of the intended shoot; he had simply stopped by the local Blockbuster on the night they were shooting, and director Nancy Meyers asked him if he could make a quick cameo. The scene plays out with Miles, a music composer, picking up famous titles off the racks and singing the main theme for that film to amuse Iris; he then picks up The Graduate and starts singing "Mrs. Robinson", which catches the attention of Dustin Hoffman nearby, who simply shakes his head and mutters to himself, "Can't go anywhere..."
• What Could Have Been: In A Star Is Found, the authors talked about how the script was developed with Hugh Grant in mind. But when the script was sent to him, he turned it down, saying he was sick of playing “Hugh Grant” and just couldn’t take it anymore. ** Robert Downey Jr. auditioned for Graham, but according to Kate Winslet, he had a really bad accent.
  • Jimmy Fallon auditioned for Miles.
• Write What You Know: Nancy Meyers stated in the DVD Commentary that she bases elements in her movies off of real-life events that she's experienced, for example the esophageal spasms that Amanda has, is something Meyers used to experience.

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