in the bar scene, jay can be seen nodding off in the background. this wasn't a gag. jason mewes was actually strung out on heroin during filming.
prior to signing onto the movie, alan rickman only had two questions. would the angel wings be real and would his dialogue be filmed as written. kevin smith assured him that the wings would be real and the dialogue would be filmed as written. rickman enthusiastically signed on.
george carlin had recently lost his wife prior to filming and asked kevin smith if there was someway he could film his scenes with his wedding ring on because he didn't feel ready to take it off. smith noted how the normally very calm carlin was very nervous when asking. smith and carlin both decided that carlin would wear a band aid on the finger with the ring to hide it. however, this was actually unnecessary since cardinals are given special rings to wear. oh well. hindsight is 20 20.
in a rare move for a kevin smith movie, the bulk of the movie was not shot in new jersey. rather, it was largely filmed in pittsburgh.
alanis morissette was originally offered the role of bethany but she couldn't commit to it due to her world tour. by the time morissette was available, linda fiorentino had been cast in the role. smith gave her the role of god instead.
kevin smith planned to make a sequel in the aftermath of 911 which would have focused on islam. the movie would have been about bethany's daughter who would have gone on an adventure to save humanity with the aid of jay and silent bob. smith eventually decided against it, deciding that the subject matter was too complicated for him to handle gracefully.
rufus's line "know him? that N word owe me 12 bucks" was improvised by chris rock, one of only a few things that he ad libbed for the movie.
an early draft of the script featured a scene where jay and silent bob sing.
holly hunter was kevin smith's original choice for the role of god. this is why jay refers to god as "the chick from the piano" in the film. however, hunter was unavailable. emma thompson was also offered the role but she declined due to her pregnancy.
before jason lee was cast as azarael, bill murray, adam sandler, and john travolta were considered. sandler was even offered the role but declined due to his commitment to big daddy.
both albert brooks and chevy chase were considered for the role of cardinal glick.
this movie was the first of 3 consecutive collaborations between kevin smith and george carlin. carlin was later cast in smith's films jay and silent bob strike back and jersey girl.
when alanis morissette was unavailable to play bethany, janeane garofalo, joey lauran adams, and gillian anderson were also considered.
the adulterer on the train is played by scott mozier, the film's co producer and a good friend of kevin smith.
kevin smith approached robert rodriguez to direct the movie. rodriguez liked the script but felt that the film was super personal for smith and that he should be the one to direct it.
in addition to being the most fantasy oriented of the view askewniverse movies, dogma also holds the distinction of being the only movie in the series where the protagonist is not a man.
before howard shore was hired to compose the film's score, danny elfman was offered the chance but was unavailable.
kevin smith actually wrote the movie before clerks was even a thought. however, upon listening to a radio interview with robert rodriguez about writing around your limitations, smith decided to put the project off and make clerks instead. he considered making dogma as his followup to clerks but decided that he needed more experience.
the mooby's playground was built specifically for the movie and was deliberately modelled like a meat grinder.
kevin smith briefly toyed with making the end be god answering bethany's "why are we here" question with "i've got just one word for you...plastics" which would have resulted in everyone's heads blowing up.
samuel L jackson and will smith were both offered the role of rufus.
in addition to writing, directing, and starring in the film, kevin smith also helped puppeteer the wings on the angels.
if you look very carefully, you'll notice that all the angels are dressed the same way. the only difference is the colors of their outfits.
gwyneth paltrow, a friend of ben affleck, actually visited the set of the airport scene. during the scene where ben and matt are sitting, paltrow was sitting just off camera.
despite the controversy surrounding it's release, dogma was lionsgate's highest grossing movie until the 2004 release of crash.