According to producer Richard Goodwin, Bette Davis brought her own make-up, mirrors, and lights to Egypt, just in case they did not have any there.
Albert Finney was initially asked to reprise his role as Poirot from Murder on the Orient Express (1974). However, he had found the make-up he had to wear for the first movie very uncomfortable in the hot interior of the train, and on realizing that he would have to undergo the same experience, this time in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius), he declined the role.
Bette Davis, Dame Maggie Smith, and Dame Angela Lansbury all shared a small steamboat cabin as a dressing room. While one actress dressed in the center of the cabin, the two others would lie on one of the beds on the left or right side.