Trivia / The Impossible

• Actor Allusion:
  • Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts were love interests in the film Stay as well.
  • Naomi Watts has also pulled a piece of string out of her mouth in The Ring.
• California Doubling: Zig-Zagged Trope. Hospital and hotel scenes where shot in Thailand, the hotel even being the actual one booked by the real family in 2004. However the tsunami scenes were shot in Spain.
• Creator-Chosen Casting: The real life María Belón wanted Naomi Watts to play her after seeing her in 21 Grams.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: María Belón's granted wish for the English-born Australian-accented Naomi Watts to play her in the movie led to the changes to her family, mostly in their names and nationality.
• Reality Subtext: Some of the survivors from the tsunami worked as extras.