What attracted Robin Williams to the role of John Keating more than anything else was that he was the type of teacher he, in his school days, always wished he had.
Robin Williams considered this movie one of his favorite films he did, and Peter Weir the best director he had ever worked with.
Director Peter Weir chose to shoot the film in chronological order to better capture the development of the relationships between the boys and their growing respect for Mr. Keating.
The scene where Todd Anderson cries outside in the snow was done in one take. It was originally an interior scene, but when it started to snow, Peter Weir thought the scene might have more impact if it were done outside. The snow was already beginning to let up so it had to be done in one take. Fortunately, Ethan Hawke managed it.
When the boys show John Keating his old senior yearbook picture, it is, in reality, Robin Williams's high school senior picture when he was a student at Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, north of San Francisco.