To live the role, Viggo Mortensen would sleep in his clothes and deliberately starve himself. At one point, he was thrown out of a shop in Pittsburgh, because they thought he was a homeless man.
Director John Hillcoat filmed the soft drink vending machine scene with Man and Boy several times, each with a different brand beverage, out of concern that Coca-Cola executives would not want their product to appear in this movie. A telephone call, from Viggo Mortensen to the President of Coca-Cola, secured permission for a can of Coca-Cola to appear, consistent with the source novel.
The ocean scene was Lake Erie.
Viggo Mortensen nearly turned down the role of Man, because he had planned a break from film work. After completing his work as Man, Mortensen took roughly two years off from acting.
Nobody in the film is credited with a specific name. The only character who does refer to himself by name is Old Man, who calls himself Ely.
