Trivia

A good friend of Bettie's, Hugh Hefner held a private screening of this movie for Bettie Page and a small group of friends. Bettie reportedly liked the movie and remarked that Gretchen Mol was much prettier than she was. Her only complaint was the film's title, saying "I was NEVER notorious!"

The characters of real-life bondage photographers Irving Klaw and Paula Klaw were actually brother and sister, not a married couple as many critics erroneously reported in reviews.

Martin Scorsese and Liv Tyler had been developing a competing project, but then Scorsese was given the green-light for The Aviator (2004), and he backed out. Liv Tyler also subsequently left.

After she faded from public view in the 1960s, many conflicting rumors about her fate circulated. In reality, she unsuccessfully tried to live a domestic married life, and then later entered a religious seminary, briefly working as a Christian missionary.

Demi Moore was said to be very keen on playing Bettie Page but lost the role to Liv Tyler, who eventually backed out during the prolonged development stage before Gretchen Mol was finally cast. Before Mol's casting, Ione Skye and Sherilyn Fenn were considered for the role. By the time production was greenlit, Fenn was unavailable for the role and Skye was pregnant.

Mary Harron: [masochistic man] In I Shot Andy Warhol (1996), Valerie Solanas encounters a man who wants her to stomp all over his chest. In The Notorious Bettie Page (2005), Bettie Page meets a man at a party who asks her if she likes stomping on men. The two men say almost the exact same things, word for word.