Trivia: At the Academy Awards, Cate Blanchett became the first Oscar winner to win her award for playing another Oscar winner.
Trivia: In one scene Paul is listening to the radio and a broadcast of the debate about whether what was happening in Rwanda was considered genocide. During the conflict there was a news conference that was very similar to the one on the radio. One of the reasons that the US and UN would not label (or appear to label) the situation as genocide was that under legal obligations they would have had to act to prevent and punish the perpetrators if they said what was happening in Rwanda was genocide.
Trivia: It's shown in the film that Ray turns up to a protest outside the concert and then refuses to play before a segregated crowd in Georgia, which earns him a lifetime ban from the state. Ray Charles did cancel his concert but only paid compensation and was never banned from Georgia. There was also no protest outside the concert hall.
Trivia: The Final Interview Subject is played by Lynn Redgrave, who is Liam Neeson's (Alfred Kinsey) real life aunt-in-law. Lynn's niece, Natasha Richardson, daughter of Vanessa Redgrave, is Liam's wife.
Trivia: Even though Angelina Jolie plays Colin Farrell's mother in the movie, she is only a year older than Farrell.