C. Thomas Howell had to wear colored contacts when his skin was toned to look black. His eyes are normally a goldish color and really stood out once his skin was darkened.
Tim Robbins was cast in the lead, but dropped out when the filming of Howard the Duck (1986) went over schedule.
In the scene where Mark first approaches Gordon as a black man, Gordon was originally supposed to believe Mark was going to mug him. An entire scene was filmed in which Mark played along with it and made Gordon sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". The scene was deleted from the final cut because, although funny when filmed, the filmmakers believed that it was inappropriate and racist.