The scene of real character Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) asking the fictitious character of Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie) to lift up her skirt was filmed with multiple cameras capturing all the angles at once. Jay Roach didn't want Robbie to have to perform that scene for more than one take.
Margot Robbie's character is the only main character in the film not based on a real person. Her character was invented for the film, possibly from a combination of real people or experiences, rolled into one character to streamline storytelling.
While the movie is centered on sexual harassment in the workplace, Margot Robbie revealed she didn't fully realize what it was until reading the script. "One of the lines that shocked me when I first read the script was that sexual harassment includes any unwelcome sexual advances," she told the Herald Sun on Saturday. "I always thought it required physical contact for it to be considered illegal or wrong. That really shocked me." Margot said recognizing that such harassment did not have to be physical, but also be verbal, prompted her to join the film.
The project was originally brought to Charlize Theron's production company, with the intention of her producing and possibly starring in the film. Once Theron decided to star as the real character of Megyn Kelly, Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman were her top picks for the roles of fictional Kayla Pospisil and real Gretchen Carlson, respectively.