原来《苏菲的抉择》是梅丽尔·斯特里普拼尽全力争取来的。在她之前，小说作者与导演至少考虑过3位女演员。

斯泰伦在创作小说时，最初设想由乌苏拉·安德丝饰演苏菲一角，斯洛伐克女演员玛格达·瓦沙里奥娃也曾被考虑。
梅丽尔·斯特里普则对争取这个角色展现出极大决心，在拿到剧本的私印副本后，她找到导演艾伦·J·帕库拉，甚至跪地恳求他将角色交给自己。
不过帕库拉的首选原是丽芙·乌曼，他认为乌曼身上那种异域特质，恰好能增强她在一位敏感浪漫的南方青年眼中的吸引力。

Styron wrote the novel with Ursula Andress in mind for the partof Sophie,and the Slovak actress Magdalena Vasryova was also considered.
Streep was very determined to get the role.After obtaining a bootlegged copy of the script, she went after Pakula, and threw herself on the ground, begging him to give her thepart.
Pakula's first choice was Liv Ullmann, for her ability to project the foreignness that would add to her appeal in the eyes of an impressionable,romantic Southerner.