A recurring element of the film is the fact that Leland doesn't have any contact with his father, absent ever since his childhood. Ryan Gosling never shares any scenes with Kevin Spacey and in the courtroom sequence, even though both characters are present, they're never in the same frame.
Although they don't share any scenes together, this is the first time Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams have appeared in the same film. Seven years later, they co-starred in the film Blue Valentine (2010).
The is the first time Ryan Gosling and Michael Peña have worked together. They reunited ten years later on the film Gangster Squad (2013).