Editing Cries and Whispers (section)

===Casting===
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+ Cast list
|-
! {{anchor|Cast}}Actor{{sfn|Vermilye|2006|p=139}}
! Role <!-- or "Character" -->
|-
| {{sortname|Harriet|Andersson}}
| Agnes
|-
| {{sortname|Kari|Sylwan}}
| Anna
|-
| {{sortname|Ingrid|Thulin}}
| Karin
|-
| {{sortname|Liv|Ullmann}}
| Maria (and her mother)
|-
| {{sortname|Anders|Ek}}
| Isak, the priest
|-
| {{sortname|Inga|Gill}}
| Aunt Olga
|-
| {{sortname|Erland|Josephson}}
| David
|-
| {{sortname|Henning|Moritzen}}
| Joakim
|-
| {{sortname|Georg|Årlin}}
| Fredrik
|-
| {{sortname|Linn|Ullmann}}
| Maria's daughter
|-
| {{sortname|Lena|Bergman}}
| young Maria
|}
When Bergman wrote the screenplay, he intended from the start to cast [[Liv Ullmann]] and [[Ingrid Thulin]]. He explained his choice of [[Harriet Andersson]] for Agnes: "I would very much like to have Harriet, too, since she belongs to this breed of enigmatic women".<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation/> Andersson had not worked with Bergman for years, and he sent her notes rather than a complete screenplay.<ref name="CowieAndersson">{{cite AV media |last1=Cowie |first1=Peter |last2=Andersson |first2=Harriet |date=2015 |title=Harriet Anderrson on Cries and Whispers |work=Cries and Whispers |medium=Blu-ray |publisher=The Criterion Collection}}</ref> Ullmann described receiving a 50-page "personal letter" from Bergman describing the story which began, "Dear Friends: We're now going to make a film together. It is a sort of a vision that I have and I will try to describe it".{{sfn|Long|2006|p=6}}{{efn|Before the director's death in 2007, Ullmann starred in 11 of his works and became known as his muse.<ref name="Shanahan">{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2016/05/20/liv-ullmann-talks-about-ingmar-bergman/TrsHLpqPQo2VKY8Lp9uxVI/story.html |last=Shanahan |first=Mark  |date=20 May 2016 |title=Liv Ullmann talks about Ingmar Bergman |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=11 October 2017 }}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] remarked Bergman and Ullmann's "lives have been intertwined since ''[[Persona (1966 film)|Persona]]'', and that's been the most important fact in ... [Ullmann's] artistic life", and they also had a daughter, [[Linn Ullmann]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/liv-ullmann-and-memories-of-bergman |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=16 February 2001 |title=Liv Ullmann and Memories of Bergman |publisher=RogerEbert.com |access-date=11 October 2017 }}</ref> }} Andersson did not receive a backstory about Agnes; Agnes' sisters were married with children, but Andersson was uncertain whether Agnes had ever married or became ill at an early age and lived with her mother.<ref name="CowieAndersson"/>

Bergman and Ullmann had a previous romantic relationship, and their daughter [[Linn Ullmann]] appears as both Maria's daughter and Anna's daughter in the picture.{{sfnm|1a1=Gado|1y=1986|1p=414|2a1=Gervais|2y=1999|2p=133}} Another of Bergman's daughters, [[Lena Bergman|Lena]], also appears as young Maria.<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation/>

The director initially said that he hoped [[Mia Farrow]] would be in the film: "Let's see if that works out. It probably will; why shouldn't it?" However, Farrow was never cast.<ref name=criesandwhispersbergmanfoundation/> [[Kari Sylwan]], a novice in Bergman's films, had what would have been Farrow's role.<ref name="Cowie"/>