Director Christian Braad Thomsen chose to use mostly untrained actors in order to avoid the unnatural language tone that he felt dominated professional acting. He also asked his leading lady Mette Knudsen to write the script with him so that her lines would seem natural to her, and improvisation was used in many scenes.
Swedish actress Agneta Ekmanner's scene where she talks about her life was improvised and autobiographical, according to Christian Braad Thomsen.
The young girl who plays Irene's daughter is the later film director Kathrine Windfeld, according to Christian Braad Thomsen.