Diane Kruger took over the role from Léa Seydoux.
When making Canadian films, writer–director David Cronenberg customarily casts non-Canadian actors in the principal roles — this film was no different, with Cronenberg hiring the non-Canadian performers Vincent Cassel, Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce as the leads.
Cronenberg's "The Shrouds" echoes several narrative elements and character traits from the director's 1983 film "Videodrome." Both films are centred on a new, voyeuristic video technology that seems to attract only the perverse; both ominously label this medium as "political"; and both finish with endings that are startling in their abruptness. Diane Kruger's role(s) in "The Shrouds" brings to mind Nicki Brand from "Videodrome" through her masochistic tendencies; Guy Pierce's bespectacled, unshaven and ultimately treacherous computer hacker is essentially the same kind of figure as the video pirate Harlan in "Videodrome"; and Sandrine Holt's icy aristocrat, who withholds vital information from the protagonist, is an obvious nod to "Videodrome"'s Bianca O'Blivion.
Viggo Mortensen was initially cast to play Karsh but later withdrew.
In a 2025 interview with Slant magazine, David Cronenberg spoke broadly about the film's ending, calling it optimistic. He said the conclusion accepts that Karsh's grief will never entirely vanish: any subsequent love affair will still be tinged by his love for his wife, and that is something he regards as acceptable — even potentially positive and energising. Cronenberg added that he truly sees the ending as a positive one, not a negative.
