Trivia / Dead Man Walking

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• Actor Allusion: Scott Wilson once again in a film about murderers and the death penalty, although this time on the other side.
• Approval of God: The real Sister Helen Prejean was very happy with and supportive of the final film and Susan Sarandon's portrayal of her. The two became friends with Sister Helen later even officiating the wedding of Eva Amurri.
• Career Resurrection: Sean Penn initially garnered acclaim in The '80s with sharply contrasting performances in Fast Times at Ridgemont High and The Falcon and the Snowman, but saw his career regress many steps after starring opposite his then-wife Madonna in the widely hated Shanghai Surprise. While he kept working on-off for the next few years, his star power only recovered fully when this film, and his performance, became praised by critics, a decent box office success, and a major contender at the Academy Awards.
• Dawson Casting: The murdered teenagers were played by then-27-year old Missy Yager and then-24-year old Peter Sarsgaard (his debut role, in fact). This was no doubt necessary because of the graphic rape/murder scene.
• Enforced Method Acting: The extras at the vigil scene outside the prison when Matthew is executed are Real Life anti-death penalty activists (including the real Sister Helen) and many of them attended a vigil for an inmate who was executed at Angola a couple days before the scene was shot there.
• Real-Life Relative: Tim Robbins directed, his longtime then-companion Susan Sarandon starred as Sister Helen Prejean, his father Gil Robbins played Bishop Norwich, his mother Mary Robbins played an aide to the governor, his sister Adele Robbins played a nurse, his sons Jack and Miles had small roles, and his brother, David Robbins, composed the score. In addition, Sarandon's daughter, Eva Amurri, plays the young Sister Helen during the opening credits sequence.
• Throw It In!: The scene of Helen being stopped for speeding by Clancy Brown's police officer and starting to write her a ticket before reflecting on how he once gave a ticket to an IRS agent and got audited shortly after and decides to not risk giving one to a nun wasn't in the script. It happened to the real Sister Helen during filming and she found it funny enough to ask for it to be included.

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