Trivia / That Was Then... This Is Now

• Approval of God: While this is the only SE Hinton adaptation with which the author was not directly involved, she still gave Emilio Estevez her approval to play Mark.
• Billing Displacement: Craig Sheffer is the lead protagonist, but gets billed second, because Emilio Estevez was the bigger name.
• California Doubling: Set in Oklahoma, filmed in Minnesota.
• Dark Horse Casting: Unknowns were deliberately cast in the roles to give the impression that the characters were real people. The exception was Emilio Estevez, who was enjoying a high profile thanks to St. Elmo's Fire, The Breakfast Club and Repo Man - using his name to acquire funding.
• Executive Meddling: The ending of the film was forced to be more optimistic by the studio.
• The Other Darrin: When Mark had appeared in the Tex film, he was played by Željko Ivanek. Emilio Estevez assumes the role here.
• Playing Against Type: Emilio Estevez wanted to play someone different than the Lovable Jock roles he had been playing beforehand, even getting into an argument with his father about it.
• Real-Life Relative: Mike is played by Ramon Estevez, who is of course brother to Emilio Estevez.
• What Could Have Been: Tom Cruise was the first choice for Byron, but the role went to Craig Sheffer instead.
• Written by Cast Member: The screenplay for the film adaptation was written by Emilio Estevez, who read the book while making Tex, and fell in love with it.
• You Look Familiar: Emilio Estevez plays Mark, having played Johnny Collins Tex and Two-Bit in The Outsiders.