Stories from the set

In the first episode, Ford and Tench drive to Iowa while the song "Hold the Line" by the American rock band Toto plays on the radio. The story is set in 1977, but this song was only released in October 1978.

The series' plot is based on the book "Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit" by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker.

John Douglas and Robert Ressler — the prototypes for the characters Holden Ford and Bill Tench — were pioneers in the 1970s in creating psychological profiles of criminals.

Holden and Ford are the names of automobile manufacturers. The two companies have long been rivals, especially in the V8 Supercars racing series (a type of touring car racing most popular in Australia and New Zealand). That is why in the third episode of the second season, Holden Ford, when checking into a hotel, says that his name is an old joke in Australia.

The filming of Edmund Kemper's prison interview in Vacaville, California, took place in the buildings of the former Pennsylvania State Penitentiary in Greensburg. The scenes with serial killer Jerry Brudos were shot in a cage specially constructed for that purpose in the prison gymnasium.

The interview scenes are based on real conversations with serial killers; some dialogue repeats them word for word.

The makeup team spent 6 hours transforming Oliver Cooper and Damon Herriman into David Berkowitz and Charles Manson.

Charlize Theron and David Fincher pitched the project to HBO in 2009, but the network turned it down.

Anna Torv's character (Dr. Wendy Carr) is based on Ann Burgess — a doctor of medical sciences, forensic psychiatric expert, and FBI employee.