An early version of the script written by Kevin Smith featured a cameo appearance by him and Jason Mewes reprising their characters Jay and Silent Bob.
The dorm in Tennessee is actually an Embassy Suites Hotel in St. Paul, Minnesota.
In an interview, Kevin Smith said he thought Reese Witherspoon was a "fucking douchebag." Smith worked on an early draft of the script but later had his name removed from the project. His girlfriend at the time, Joey Lauren Adams, was up for the part that ultimately went to Witherspoon. He told of an encounter with Witherspoon after she won the role: "I was at some party with Joey Lauren Adams and Reese had just got a part Joey was hoping to get. So Joey said, 'Hey Reese, I just wanted to say congratulations. I think you'll do really great with the part.' And Reese just gave this dead-eyed look and was like, 'Whatever.' At this point she wasn't even the Reese Witherspoon that everybody mistakenly knows and loves. She was Reese Witherspoon circa S.F.W. To have that kind of attitude back then; I guess she was meant for stardom. She's a dick!"
The car Reese Witherspoon drives is a Volkswagen Thing which was inspired by German WWII cars driven during the era.