Trivia / Sweet Home Alabama

• California Doubling: Most of the film was actually shot in Georgia.
  • The "deep south glass" in the movie was made by Simon Pierce, a Vermont company.
• Deleted Scene: During the end credits Melanie sees a newspaper article announcing Andrew's engagement to Erin Vanderbilt. Erin was originally supposed to have several scenes interacting with Andrew while Melanie was in Alabama. One scene left test audiences with the impression that Andrew was cheating on Melanie with Erin, so she was cut to keep Andrew a sympathetic character.
• Fake American: Melanie Lynskey, who is from New Zealand, as the very southern Lurlynn.
• Focus Group Ending: The original ending extended the Meaningful Echo of Melanie and Jake's kiss in the middle of the thunderstorm and had them zapped by lightning again. Cut to everyone waiting at the abandoned wedding reception, where Jake, cradling a limp Melanie in his arms, walks in and announces, "Melanie Carmichael is dead." We see the news start to sink in among the community, including Melanie's parents, before Jake adds, "Long live 'Felony Melanie!'" Melanie then drops the act, and everyone cheers for the happy couple and the rebirth of their hometown sweetheart. Test audiences cried, "Dude, Not Funny!," and the ending changed to have the couple playfully handcuffed together and escorted into Stella's bar by their sheriff friend.
• Stillborn Franchise: Reese Witherspoon has said that she was interested in a sequel and even pitched a plot for it to the studio, but they never got back to her on it.

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