The film's working title, The King of Soho, had to be dropped after the threat of legal action by Paul Raymond's son, Howard, who was already developing a project of the same name about his father's life.
Real life actress and model Fiona Richmond, who is played by Tamsin Egerton, gave an interview after the release of the film saying it portrayed a sleazy side of her life that never happened, and that most of the script changes she had suggested to make the film more accurate had not been used. As for her magazine modeling work the film talked about, Richmond said, "I didn't have any problems taking my top off. There is nothing wrong with the naked female form and my photo shoots for Men Only were always pretty. Nowadays they are more suitable for trainee gynecologists."
The Director, Michael Winterbottom, and the lead Steve Coogan, are known to do projects together. Before The Look of Love, they also paired up to great effect in 24 Hour Party People (2002) and Tristram Shandy (2005).
Anna Friel said performing nude in the film wasn't a big deal. She wasn't concerned about stripping naked in front of the camera because she was used to it in her career. She also said she thinks society has become "a bit more relaxed now with our approach to nudity and nakedness." Though she did joke that she thought it wasn't fair that there was more female than male nudity, saying, "The cast was mainly men and the females who were in it were all naked."
Tamsin Egerton filmed her first ever sex scene for the movie.