Armand Assante's role as Roberto Texador in Sidney Lumet's film Q&A garnered him a Golden Globe nomination.

To prepare for his role in the film, Timothy Hutton went on squad-car runs with NYPD officers in order to get an idea of the challenges they faced on the streets.
Nick Nolte put on 40 lbs. for the film because he felt that the character he played required it:

Just the sheer mass of brutality. I felt that would be the right kind of thing. He had to be on the edge of his own dissipation.