A pneumatic bra was built to create the effect where Meryl Streep's breasts become higher and firmer after drinking the potion, but the effect didn't look realistic enough. In order to get the shot, Streep's dresser stood behind her, out of sight of the camera, and pushed her breasts into position.
At one point, Lisle asks Madeline how old she thinks she is. Madeline answers 38, and Lisle gives her a dirty look. Isabella Rossellini was 39 years old at the time of filming.
This was the first film that used photo-realistic human skin software.
In a UK television interview, Meryl Streep was asked about this uncharacteristic role, and she replied that it was too original to pass up.
Robert Zemeckis: [revolutionizing visual effects no matter the film genre] The film and other Zemeckis films that have revolutionized visual effects are Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), What Lies Beneath (2000), Flight (2012), and The Walk (2015).
Robert Zemeckis: [a sexy redheaded woman in a red dress] In the film, after years of being mousy and frumpy, Helen Sharp transforms herself into a sexy redhead and wears a red dress at her book signing party. In one of Zemeckis' previous films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Jessica Rabbit is a sexy redhead who famously wears a red dress.