When Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio) smashes his hand on the dinner-table, DiCaprio did accidentally crush a small stemmed glass with his palm and did really begin to bleed. He ignored it, stayed in character, and continued with the scene. Quentin Tarantino was so impressed that he used this take in the final print, and when he called cut, the room erupted in a standing ovation. DiCaprio's hand was bandaged, and he suggested the idea of smearing blood onto the face of Kerry Washington. Tarantino and Washington both liked this, so Tarantino got some fake blood together.
According to critic Alex Ross, the alliance between Django (Jamie Foxx) and Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) is "not as absurd" as audiences might believe, because in the 1840s, many German revolutionaries and progressives left Europe for the U.S., where they often became active in the anti-slavery movement.
During the filming of one of the dinner-scenes, Leonardo DiCaprio had to stop the scene because he was having "a difficult time" using so many racial slurs. Samuel L. Jackson then pulled him aside telling him, "Motherfucker, this is just another Tuesday for us."
Jamie Foxx used his own horse, Cheetah, in the movie. He got it four years prior as a birthday present.
Leonardo DiCaprio, whose role marked the first time he played a villain since El hombre de la máscara de hierro (1998), was uncomfortable with how horrible and explicitly racist his character was. However, Quentin Tarantino convinced him to be as menacing as possible, saying that if he didn't take it all the way, people would hold it against him forever.
Franco Nero: The lead actor from Django (1966), the movie which inspired this one, has a cameo as the owner of the slave that fights against a slave owned by Calvin Candie (the screenplay gives his character the name Amerigo Vassepi). After being asked to spell his name, Django explains, "The 'D' is silent". Nero replies, "I know".
Zoë Bell: A favorite stuntwoman of writer and director Quentin Tarantino appears as the tracker with the bandanna hiding her face.
Tom Savini: A noted special effects and make-up artist in the industry, that has worked with Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, respectively, on numerous titles. He plays the tracker in the fur coat who pulls the dogs off of D'Artagnan (Ato Essandoh).
Quentin Tarantino: One of the LeQuint Dickey Mining Company employees, using an Australian accent. He is also wearing a bag on his head as one of The Regulators.
Quentin Tarantino: [Red Apple Cigarettes] During the Mandingo fight scene, Django can be seen opening a bag of tobacco with a red apple design on it.
Quentin Tarantino: [Banal conversation] When the villagers are getting ready for the raid and they talk about the bags.
Quentin Tarantino: [Men getting shot in the genitals] Django trains by shooting a snowman's crotch, shoots a naked Stonesipher point-blank in the genitals, and shoots Billy Crash in the genitals.