When submitting his script to studios, screenwriter Adam Herz titled it, "Untitled Teenage Sex Comedy That Can Be Made For Under $10 Million That Most Readers Will Probably Hate But I Think You Will Love". It was later changed to "East Great Falls High", then "Great Falls", and finally, "American Pie".
To replicate an erection in one scene, the crew cooked a sausage, stuck it on a pencil, and wrapped it in aluminum foil. It was still warm when it was placed between Jason Biggs' legs.
The URL for the webcam broadcast that Jim emails (from jim@eastgreatfalls.edu) to his friends is http://128.220.27.192/temp/NadiaVision. (The IP address actually belongs to the Department of Psychology of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD.)
Adam Herz's High School (and the one upon which he based East Great Falls High) was East Grand Rapids High. Yesterdog is the real name of the hot-dog "hang-out spot" for many of the real-life students.
The exterior shots of the high school were filmed at Millikan High School in Long Beach, California while the interior shots were of Long Beach Poly High School.
When Jim was running down the road to get to his house, Jason Biggs got heatstroke. They had to pack his shirt with ice to cool him down while he was running. Afterwards, they rushed him to a doctor. In another incident, while at home Jason Biggs also took too many Zinc supplements and became ill, so Jim was completely written out of the scene where Kevin and Finch are talking to each other while Finch is playing golf.
The part when Jessica and Vicky are reading the Spanish work and Jessica says, "Is this right, "go away, you stupid bird teacher, I had enough" was an inside joke from writer Adam Herz when he was in high school.
Alyson Hannigan went to her callback audition really having to pee. She ran to the bathroom and her name was called right after she got out. She went in without having calmed down so she read the part really quirky and with an over amount of energy. She credits that to her getting the part.
In Mexico, this was the first movie to be rated B15 (for 15 or over), the certificate that now comes in between the B (for 12 or over) and C (for 18 or over) ratings.
The official website referred to Jim's Dad as Eugene, named after Eugene Levy himself. However, his name was revealed to be Noah in later installments.
At 26, John Cho was the oldest male cast member to portray a teenager, while Alyson Hannigan and Shannon Elizabeth, both 24, were the oldest women playing teen characters.
The trivia item below may give away important plot points.
The line, "Say my name, bitch," from the scene between Jason and Michelle was ad-libbed on the spot by Alyson Hannigan. The director and producer found it so amusing that it was kept in the final cut.