When it was decided to make a play out of Federico Fellini's 8½ (1963), the rights were easy to obtain from Fellini; his only condition was that neither his name nor the title 8 1/2 should be connected to it.
Sir Daniel Day-Lewis and Dame Judi Dench worked together on-stage in a 1989 production of "Hamlet", as Hamlet and Gertrude. Day-Lewis infamously broke down during a scene and abruptly left the stage, never to return. Before filming began for this movie, Day-Lewis sent Dench a note saying, "I promise not to run out on you this time."
Kate Hudson mentioned in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in November 2009 that it took about six weeks to rehearse her number "Cinema Italiano", and about two days to film. She also said that making the movie was "maybe my best experience to date".
When Dame Judi Dench was cast, her manager (who also manages Sir Daniel Day-Lewis) sent the script to him, and he in turn called up director Rob Marshall. Marshall stated in an interview that he thinks Day-Lewis is the "best" actor around, and that he never considered offering him the part because he didn't think he would take it. Day-Lewis was keen to take a break after his last movie, but said he knew that making this movie would be an unbelievable experience.
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