What a helluva run Jordan Peele is having. Get Out, written and directed by Peele, has become a cultural juggernaut since its release, adding terms like the “sunken place” into pop culture and millions of memes to boot. His upward climb culminated Sunday when Peele deservedly took home the Oscar of Best Original Screenwriting.
But before the Academy Awards, Peele also attended the Film Independent Spirit Awards a few days previous. There he won two prestigious prizes for his directorial debut—Best Director and Best Feature. During his acceptance speech, Peele revealed what inspired him to create Get Out and that marijuana was definitely involved.
“This project didn’t start as a statement, it began as me wanting to make film in my favorite genre,” Peele said. “I sat down, and I would smoke a little bit of weed while I try to write a mind-bending horror film. At some point, I just followed the truth and realized there are people that are locked up for smoking less weed than I smoked while I wrote the movie.”
Now for anyone who has followed Peele before his Get Out fame, you’d know he’s a big cannabis fan. Key & Peele is littered with weed comedy, as were some sketches Peele was in for MADTV.
One of the best of Key & Peele’s marijuana-related sketches is Peele playing President Barack Obama during his college years, a.k.a. when Obama admitted to using marijuana. You can check out the sketch below.
