Prior to shooting, director Sofia Coppola got the cast to fake-burgle a house to see what mistakes they would make.
Kirsten Dunst's cameo, as herself, was not part of the original script. Instead, it was incorporated into the film after Dunst visited director Sofia Coppola on set. Dunst previously starred in two of Coppola's other films, The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Marie Antoinette (2006).
Director Sofia Coppola considered cutting the dialogue-free, very slow zoom-in shot of the robbery of Audrina's glass house, but cinematographer Harris Savides convinced her to keep it in. It is now the most celebrated shot of the film.