Trivia / Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

• Acclaimed Flop: Made just under its $10 million budget but was praised highly. Roger Ebert heaped praise on it.
• Actor-Inspired Element:
  • Adam Brody helped Lorene Scafaria with some of the script (the two are also part of a band together).
  • Penny's green military jacket was Keira Knightley's idea.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Having done a lot of dramatic films beforehand, Keira Knightley was immediately attracted to a tragicomedy about the end of the world.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Dodge's wife, who leaves him at the start of the film, is played by Nancy Carell, the wife of his actor (Steve Carell). The scene was even filmed on their anniversary!
• Playing Against Type: Keira Knightley, mainly known at that point for coming-of-age period dramas, plays a ditzy slacker. Steve Carell to a lesser extent is playing the Only Sane Man, when he's usually better known as a Large Ham or Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist. This was a deliberate choice by the director, who loved casting the comic actor as the more introverted character and the dramatic actress as the Plucky Comic Relief.
• Write What You Know: Lorene Scafaria drew from her own experiences having endured the 9/11 attacks not long after moving from New York - and the events led to her getting back in touch with old friends.