Actor-Shared Background: Woody Harrelson plays bounty hunter Carson Wells, mirroring the profession of his father, contract killer Charles Harrelson. Notable is that a murder carried out by Charles (on federal judge John H. Wood Jr.) is referenced in the book, in one of Bell's monologues.
Awesome, Dear Boy: Javier Bardem reportedly accepted the role of Anton Chigurh despite initial reservations because it was his dream to be in a Coen Brothers film.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Contrary to what the trailers and DVD chapter listing will tell you, Chigurh never says "Call it, friendo"; they're in two different lines ("What business is it of yours where I'm from...friendo?"/"Call it").
Billing Displacement: Despite receiving top billing, Tommy Lee Jones has the least amount of screentime out of the three main characters. This is semi-justified by said character being tremendously thematically important, however.
This film helped Josh Brolin get noticed again after a long-down period in his career. He would get an Academy Award nomination for his supporting performance in Milk a year later, while becoming an icon of comic book cinema in The New '10s with his performance as Thanos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
This film was one for the Coen Brothers, too. After a seven-year period where their films were commercially unsuccessful, critically unsuccessful, or both, this was their first film after a three-year hiatus. Many praised it as their magnum opus, and it created a new boom in their careers.
Cast the Runner-Up: Garret Dillahunt was also in the running for the role of Llewelyn Moss, auditioning five times for the role, but instead was offered the part of Wendell, Ed Tom Bell's deputy.
Channel Hop: An interesting case, in that it was originally distributed by two companies, Paramount (through their indie label, Paramount Vantage) and Miramax, when the latter was owned by Disney and just about to be sold to Filmyard Holdings. In 2019, Paramount bought 49% of Miramax and gained control of its library, so the film is now fully owned by Paramount.
Dawson Casting: Carla Jean is a teenage wife in the novel, but is played by 30-year-old Kelly MacDonald in the film, though this could be more an Age Lift.
Dueling Movies: With There Will Be Blood, which was being shot around the same time in rural Texas, note one story notes how close both sets were, to the point where during filming of the oil derrick scene of There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men had to shut down filming for the day due to the smoke interrupting the shoot was also a Darker and Edgier film by (a) respected auteur(s), released around the same time by the same distributors (Paramount Vantage & Miramax), and competed for Best Picture at the Oscars. (No Country won.)
The case that holds the money in this film is the same case that was used for the same purpose in Fargo.
Tess Harper wore the same boots in this film that she wore in Tender Mercies. She did this because she felt that Loretta could have been an older version of Rosa Lee.
Reality Subtext: The book was written partly as the author's reaction to the sensation of escalating violence brought in by drug trafficking, starting in the early eighties and continuing to this day. To evoke this, the book and movie are Period Pieces. The author's response to this feeling can possibly be seen in the uncle's speech near the end, when he outright states that things are not worse or better than the past, they just always feel that way to those living at that moment.
The Red Stapler: The demand for silenced, pistol-grip shotguns increased as a result of Chigurh's primary weapon.
Star-Making Role: While he was already fairly well-known in both the US and especially his native Spain, this role and the subsequent Oscar win are what really put Javier Bardem on the map.
During early readings, Spanish actor Javier Bardem attempted unsuccessfully to downplay his accent; the Coens liked the resultant mangled, unidentifiable dialect so much that they encouraged him to speak like that for the entire film, hence Chigurh's strange and unsettling accent.
During the coin toss scene with the elderly gas station owner, Bardem accidentally almost choked while eating a peanut during the moment the owner says his wife's father originally owned the station. They decided to leave it in the final cut, as it implies that Chigurh was so taken aback at the idea of someone not building their own business from the ground up that it caused him to physically react.
The role of Llewelyn Moss was originally offered to Heath Ledger, but he turned it down to spend time with his newborn daughter Matilda.
Javier Bardem nearly withdrew from the role of Anton Chigurh due to issues with scheduling. Mark Strong was put on standby to take over, but the scheduling issues were resolved and Bardem took on the role.
Written-In Infirmity: Josh Brolin broke his shoulder in a motorcycle accident two days after getting the part in this film. In an interview with NOW Magazine, he stated that as he flew over the car that hit him, he thought, "Fucking shit! I really wanted to work with the Coens." His injury, however, turned out to be a non-issue, since his character is shot in the shoulder very early in the film.
Miscellaneous
The novel has a line referring to the murder of federal judge John H. Wood Jr. in San Antonio. The convicted murderer is a hitman named Charles Harrelson. He was the father of Woody Harrelson, who plays a supporting role (Carson Wells) in the movie.
