The very early clip of a jockey riding a horse, which Emerald claims features her and OJ's ancestor, is a real 1878 animated series of photographs, one of the first moving images ever, which has come to be called Sallie Gardner at a Gallop (1878). Sallie Gardner is the name of the horse; the two jockeys were listed as being named "C. Marvin" and "G. Domm." Neither of their identities are known, though they very well could have been black as Emerald claims. In those days many jockeys were black, such as thirteen of the fifteen jockeys racing at the first Kentucky Derby in 1875.
Keke Palmer's introductory scene, in which Emerald delivers her energetic and fast-talking monologue about her family history during a safety meeting on the set of a film shoot, took fourteen takes to shoot. Jordan Peele described each one as "very wildly different."
Despite being featured prominently, Fry's Electronics closed all of its locations on February 24, 2021, prior to the film's production. The film shot in the Burbank, California location and recreated the interior.
Jordan Peele cites King Kong (1933), Jurassic Park (1993), Incontri ravvicinati del terzo tipo (1977), Signs (2002), and Il mago di Oz (1939) as influences on the film. He considers these films as examples of addiction to spectacle, a major theme in the film.
Jordan Peele originally wrote the character of Angel Torres as a "happy-go-lucky" geek-like character until Brandon Perea was cast as the character, who wanted to expand upon and portray him as more grounded.