Trivia / Baby Boy

• Creator Cameo: John Singleton appears as a traveling CD vendor who tries selling to Jody and Pea.
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Singleton thought this was his best film.
• Deleted Role: Kareem Grimes apparently plays Sweetpea's friend "Do Dirty", but he isn't actually seen in the final cut of the film, leading to a rather bizarrely high billing in the credits.
  • Averted, as he made a brief appearance at Sweetpea’s baptism.
• Deleted Scene: There's a scene cut out from the film of Melvin explaining how, unlike Jody, he was actually thrown out of the house around the time he turned 18 and had to strike out on his own. One of his friends promptly chimes in with a revelation that he still lives with his mother. Cue the judgmental looks from the other men.
• Method Acting:
  • According to Tyrese Gibson on the DVD extras, he asked Ving Rhames to not only choke him for real, but to not hold back, as he wanted the scene to look as authentic as possible.
  • John Singleton also stated on the DVD commentary that during the scene where Melvin finally confronts Jody in with Juanita, Ving Rhames used Tyrese Gibson's real mother's name in some cut shots in order to get a genuine, passionate reaction out of him. Those shots of Jody becoming increasingly angry leading up to the shove was genuine anger on Tyrese's part.
• Playing Against Type: Omar Gooding (normally a sitcom actor) as the dark, brooding, and somewhat sadistic Sweetpea.
• Real-Life Relative: In the beginning of the film, John Singleton's daughter Cleopatra portrays Jody's daughter.
• What Could Have Been: John Singleton originally wrote the script with Tupac Shakur in mind for Jody and Ice Cube for Rodney. Then Tupac got murdered and the film went into Development Hell for the next 5-6 years.