Before filming began, Ralph Fiennes wanted to speak with Charles Van Doren in person to get his accent down for the role. However, no one thought Van Doren would want to help with the film. Ralph Fiennes and a film staff member drove to the rural Connecticut town where Van Doren lives. They found him sitting in a chair outside his house. Fiennes pretended to be a lost driver and asked him for directions.
Producers Barry Levinson and Mark Johnson had their names taken off the credits even though they had been instrumental in getting the film made. They settled instead for a namecheck for their production company, Baltimore Pictures. They felt that listing eleven producer credits for one film was far too many.
Herb Stempel's son was an infant at the time of the quiz show scandal. Stempel had been trying to tell people that the show was fixed long before he lost his run, but he was ignored. In May 1958, the CBS game show Dotto (1958) was exposed as rigged. When Stempel published his accusations in August 1958, people paid attention.
Robert Redford claims that he spotted the real Charles Van Doren's acting while he was watching the show during his tenure at acting school.