Jennifer Jones reportedly chewed garlic cloves before her love scenes with William Holden, which may have been an effort to deter her notoriously womanizing co-star. Considering how badly they were getting along, Holden suspected that it was Jones' attempt to annoy him.
Jennifer Jones reportedly complained incessantly. Among other topics, she felt that her makeup made her look old. This might explain why the "yellowface" prosthetics (to make her eyes seem Asian) vary from shot to shot. Sometimes they're very obvious, and other times she seems not to be wearing them at all.
Jennifer Jones, who was married to studio mogul David O. Selznick at the time of filming, complained constantly during the production, often yelling, "I'm going to tell David about this!" After complaining about William Holden, the two stars barely spoke to each other on the set. Finally, Holden tried to make peace, offering Jones a bouquet of white roses. She tossed them back in his face.
For his beach scene with Jennifer Jones, William Holden shaved the hair from his chest in order to get the clean-cut look supposedly favored by female moviegoers.
The decision to cast Jennifer Jones as Dr Han Suyin was widely criticized.