Cast the Expert: Yussi is played by a real-life jeweler, Maksud Agadjani, who'd famously had some firsthand experience with clients ripping him off.
The Danza: Julia Fox plays Julia De Fiore, Howard's assistant and mistress. The name was a last-minute change to prevent the character from sharing a name with Sandler's daughter.
Defictionalization: The memetic gold Furby chain was released as limited-edition (only 100 pieces) merch.
Deleted Role: Pom Klementieff had a supporting part that was all but cut from the final film. Her role in the film is little more than a very, very brief cameo, despite still being listed in the credits.
Doing It for the Art: The Safdie Brothers turned down an offer of a superhero movie sequel from a major studio to make this film, despite liking the film they were offered. Nobody knows yet which studio and what film it was.
DVD Commentary: The Blu-Ray of the film has one with the Safdies, the editor and co-writer Ronald Bronstein, and one of the film's producers.
Extremely Lengthy Creation: According to the Safdie Brothers, between the film's conception in 2009 and its release a whole decade later, 160 drafts were made. Adam Sandler declined their initial offer of the starring role, and the brothers cycled through a number of basketball players to include in the film (including Kobe Bryant and Amar'e Stoudemire) before settling on Garnett, which led to thorough rewrites as the plot had to revolve around the outcomes of real-life games and by proxy different sets of themes. Due to the lack of financial backing and an attached star, the film languished in Development Hell long enough for the brothers to instead make several other films based on elements of their research — Lenny Cooke was a documentary about the titular basketball player, and Heaven Knows What revolved around the life and memoir of an actual heroin-addicted woman the brothers found while doing research in the Diamond District. Robert Pattinson, fascinated upon seeing an ad for the latter, asked to work with the brothers on their next project, one thing led to another, and the brothers accrued enough success to give Uncut Gems the momentum it needed.
Fatal Method Acting: Narrowly averted. There's a scene in which Arno's goons rough Howard up while Arno demands his money back. While filming this scene, one of the actors was actually choking Adam Sandler, and Sandler, unable to breathe, tried to tap out, but the other actor thought it was All Part of the Show. Fortunately, the stunt coordinator realized that Sandler was in genuine distress and stopped the take.
The Merch: Two weeks after the film's release, A24 released Howard's now-legendary gold Furby chain, a basketball with Howard's exact winning Game 7 bet emblazoned on it, KMH's diamond grading chart, and a zine made by the Safdie Brothers as official merchandise. A version of the last one serves as the template for the booklet that comes with the Criterion 4K Disc release, which in true Criterion fashion, includes interviews and essays and info on the transfer.
Even in his well-regarded dramatic roles, Adam Sandler tends to play more decent guys. Howard has a few redeeming traits, but is overall quite a scumbag between his mafia ties, shady business practices, gambling habits and having a long-time mistress.
Idina Menzel (Elsa from Frozen) in a role that not only requires no singing, but is also a bitter, shrill, estranged wife that drops a few F-bombs in between.
Jonah Hill was initially attached to the lead role, but was ultimately turned down for being too young. Sacha Baron Cohen was also considered before Adam Sandler was cast, but the brothers didn’t even meet him. Harvey Keitel was also considered.
Kobe Bryant, Amar'e Stoudemire, and Joel Embiid were the first choices for the NBA player.
Bryant was considered mainly for his outspoken interest in acting circa 2015; however, after the brothers had extensively rewritten the film to suit him, they learned that he was actually interested in directing more than acting, rendering all their work moot.
As a former player for the New York Knicks, Stoudemire was a natural fit but refused to cut his hair for the role. The opal being mined by Ethiopian Jews was intended in the original script to appeal specifically to Stoudemire, who believed he had Hebrew ancestry, and would later convert to Judaism.
Joel Embiid of the 76ers was also considered. However, Embiid was an active NBA player (and is still an active player as of 2022), meaning his game schedule conflicted with the film's production schedule. Ironically, the 76ers still make an appearance in the final film as Garnett's playoff opponents.
Initial drafts of the script included a version of the character of Nick Nikas. This character would go on to be portrayed by Benny Safdie in Good Time.
In addition to composing the film's score, Oneohtrix Point Never reportedly made several songs with The Weeknd (who cameos) that were going to be used but ended up getting cut.
Write What You Know: The film was inspired by the Safdie Brothers' father's time working for a man also named Howard in the Manhattan Diamond District. The Safdie Brothers and their father are also Jewish and avid basketball fans.
. There's a scene in which Arno's goons rough Howard up while Arno demands his money back. While filming this scene, one of the actors was actually choking Adam Sandler, and Sandler, unable to breathe, tried to tap out, but the other actor thought it was All Part of the Show. Fortunately, the stunt coordinator realized that Sandler was in genuine distress and stopped the take.