"Black folks do this all day long. It's something that's been codified in our spirit. It's interesting to see how much more work we have to do just to have a complex, strong existence." Colman Domingo in Both Colman Domingo and this interviewer are guilty of referring to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as a play when talking about the new Netflix film. It's an easy mistake, given the source material from playwright August Wilson and the theatrical aesthetic of director George C. Wolfe. Domingo, a Tony nominee for The Scottsboro Boys and a playwright himself, takes on the role of saxophonist Cutler in the screen adaptation. Like the play, the movie explores the exploitation and commoditization of Black artists through the lens of a recording session with blues legend Ma Rainey (played by Tony and Oscar-winning Wilson interpreter Viola Davis). As band leader, Cutler navigates that as both a Black performer and a proxy for white gatekeepersâterritory all too familiar to Domingo.