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Spoilers (1)
The producers wanted Andrew Strong's father to audition for one of the roles. He brought his 16-year old son along, who then landed the lead role.
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Jimmy is asked if he has brought Mississippi Burning (also directed by Parker) with him on the train. He is also asked if he has any "Hothouse Flowers", a band in which Maria Doyle Kennedy (Natalie) once sang backup for.
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Jimmy shows Joey a newspaper article about the Commitments, in which musician Bob Geldof is mentioned. Geldof starred in Pink Floyd The Wall which was directed by 'Parker, Alan'.
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Alan Parker put many people who did not make the initial audition for the band in bit parts in the movie.
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The song Natalie is singing to the baby (before Deco starts banging on the drums) is called "Jimmy Mo Mhile Stor".
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The kid on the skateboard who appears outside Robert Arkins' (Jimmy's) window during the first third of the movie when the band are recruiting members is the (now grown up) boy from the covers of U2's "Boy" (1980) and "War" (1983) albums. At the time The Commitments was filmed, he owned a skate shop in Dublin and was a champion skateboarder.
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The first of Roddy Doyle's so-called "Barrytown Trilogy" about the lives of the Rabbitt family. The remaining two books, The Snapper and The Van were also made into films starring Colm Meaney as Jimmy Rabbitt, Sr.
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Blaise Smith, who played the pool hall manager in the film, came close to getting the role of Jimmy Rabbitte
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Johnny Murphy (Joey The Lips) and Bronagh Gallagher (Bernie) were the only ones in the group who had no music experience before making the film.
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The performers first had to show musical talent, then they were given parts for which to read. After they were cast, there was a very long rehearsal period both for the music and the dramatic scenes.
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Alan Parker said that the reason he chose this project was because it combined two elements that make him the most comfortable: staging musical scenes and working with young people.
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The pool hall in this movie was a place called Ricardo's (now called Camden Deluxe) on Camden Street south of Temple Bar. It is now a bar and the upstairs junk room where the band rehearse is Poolhall. The scene outside the hotel where Wilson Pickett was supposedly staying was filmed outside the Mansion House, which is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.
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Director Alan Parker cites this movie as the most personally enjoyable production experience of his career.
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The Corrs, the highly successful Irish band, got their start by auditioning for the film, and they each won small roles. Andrea Corr (lead vocals & tin whistle) plays Jimmy's little sister Sharon. Jim Corr (guitar) is part of the Avant-Garde-A-Clue Band. Caroline Corr (drums) appears in the audience during the performance of "I Never Loved A Man". Finally, Sharon Corr (violin) can be seen playing violin with the country & western band that Bernie joins at the end of the film. John Hughes, the film's musical coordinator, became the band's manager. Director Alan Parker later asked Andrea for a role in the film/musical Evita.
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'Colm MacConiomaire', violinist with Glen Hansard's band The Frames, makes a cameo appearance during the auditions as a young violin player.
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Jimmy is waiting out front Galehers club (waiting for Wilson Pickett). Spray painted graffiti on the wall behind him is "killing joke". Although this may be familiar to UK viewers, it's not so well known in the US - Killing Joke is a UK-based punk band, who were popular in the LA punk scene in the mid-1980's.
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Maria Doyle Kennedy was a member of the band "The Black Velvet Band" before the movie was made. She was the only member of the cast with a notable career before the movie.
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When the boys are discussing a possible name for their band, one suggestion put forward - "The Likely Lads" - was an in-joke nod to the film's screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais who had co-written the earlier British TV sitcom The Likely Lads.
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Glen Hansard had a difficult time during filming. A clash early on with director Alan Parker made it very difficult for him to enjoy the experience. It took him almost 20 years before he watched the full film.
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Spoilers
In the epilogue to the film you can see Bernie singing in a band called The Brassers (this name is on the drums). In the book's closing chapters this is the band that Jimmy forms with Derek and Outspan after The Commitments have split up.
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