Many hints are given at a relationship between the plot and real life in this picture, which has caused some commentors to question the discipline of the filmmakers, but may, in time, actually contribute to the film's interest. Hepburn's son plays the part of Jose, though the part of her son in the film is played by Glenn Scarpelli. According to Bogdanovich, Hepburn and Gazzara had had an affair prior to the filming, though evidently this had fizzled by the time filming began, and Gazzara's ongoing divorce made further contact inadvisable. (Commentors have not agreed as to whether Gazzara and Hepburn have good onscreen chemistry in "They All Laughed"). Bogdanovich's real-life daughters portray John Russo's daughters, who along with Arthur (pretending to be Russo's son in a crucial scene), are enlisted to win Angela Niotes's trust. More implicitly, Arthur, who acts primarily as a facilitator to the others' romances, is portrayed by one of the film's screenwriters, Blaine Novak. Charles, who pursues Dorothy Stratten's character, wears director Peter Bogdanovich's trademark oversized plastic-framed eyeglasses, perhaps a reference to Bogdanovich's initial guilt and subsequent acceptance of his love for Stratten.