For the bug chamber sequence, Kate Capshaw was really covered with over two thousand insects. She took sedatives prior to the scene to get over her initial fear, and claimed "they definitely worked".
D.R. Nanayakkara, cast as the Indian village Shaman, did not speak a word of English. He delivered his lines phonetically by mimicking Steven Spielberg who was prompting him off-camera. The pauses in his dialogue were therefore not for dramatic effect, but rather waiting for his next line.
In an April 5, 2022, New York Times interview with Robert Ito, Ke Huy Quan (Short Round) remembered his costar Harrison Ford's kindness to him as a child: "he was an amazing guy. So down-to-earth, so humble, and really generous as an actor. And he taught me how to swim. We were just hanging out at the swimming pool in Sri Lanka in our hotel, and he says, 'Ke, do you know how to swim?' I didn't, so he says, 'Come on, I'll teach you.'"
This film is banned in India and never shown on TV channels in India.
Kate Capshaw was very critical of her own character, saying that Willie was "not much more than a dumb screaming blonde".
Dan Aykroyd: as Weber, the British-accented man who escorts Indy, Short Round and Willie onto the cargo plane. Aykroyd had previously worked with Steven Spielberg on the film 1941 (1979).
Steven Spielberg: [fathers] Short Round looks on Indiana Jones as a father-figure. Indiana seems reluctant at times to return the feeling.
Steven Spielberg: [shooting star] When Indiana is talking to Short Round on the hill above the village at 0:28:19.