 Dozens of actresses were looked at to play the role of Madison, but none were right for the role until the producers found Amy Yasbeck, who did a screen test for director Greg Antonacci, was cast at the start of 1988.Yasbeck had to wear a blonde wig (over her red hair, which was cut to her shoulders to accommodate wearing the wig) when playing Madison.Yasbeck went through a crash course in scuba diving as well as extensive physical training to prepare to play Madison in the underwater swimming shoots with her mermaid tail costume.