Mo'Nique was offered the role of Viola, but she refused because she had played that type of character before. Reading the script, she liked Ma Rainey and asked HBO if it was possible to play that character.
Project took over 20 years to be made.
Queen Latifah's topless scene in front of the mirror shows her real breasts. A body double was not used.
Charles S. Dutton, who plays Pa Rainey, made his Broadway debut in 1984 in August Wlson's play "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."