Benicio Del Toro chose Ryan Gosling to play Benigno 'Beni' Ramírez. Gosling met with the real Ramirez and learned some Spanish to prepare for role. But delays during pre-production caused Gosling to drop out of the project.
Although Benicio Del Toro was always considered the absolute first choice to headline this film, Val Kilmer was considered as a secondary option to play Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara if Del Toro had not been available.
Che: Part One (2008) and this film were screened combined at the Cannes Film festival 2008 under the title "Che".
Cameo: [Matt Damon] as Fr. Schwartz, man with white flag, carrying out short negotiation in non-native Spanish.