Exclusive: Chadwick Boseman Talks Being James Brown For ‘Get On Up’Posted by Wilson Morales
July 29, 2014
Coming out this week is the heavily anticipated James Brown biopic, ‘Get On Up,’ starring Chadwick Boseman as the Godfather of Soul. The film will give a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on the journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.
Directed by Tate Taylor, the film also stars Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd, Dan Aykroyd as Ben Bart, Viola Davis as Susie Brown, Octavia Spencer as Aunt Honey, Jill Scott as Deidre “Dee-Dee” Jenkins, Tika Sumpter as Yvonne Fair, Craig Robinson as Maceo Parker, Lennie James as Joseph “Joe” James, Keith Robinson as Baby Roy, and many more.
It’s been a great ride for Boseman these last few years playing real-life legends. From playing football player Floyd Little in ‘The Express’ to scoring a box office hit as baseball legend Jackie Robinson in ’42,’ the South Carolina native gets to tackle another legend that fans have wanted to see on the big screen. In ‘Get On Up,’ Brown embodies the spirit of Brown and is amazing. Although he had a supporting role in another football film, ‘Draft Day’ opposite Kevin Costner, it eases the pressure of not leading every project, especially when he’s still learning the game of fame.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Boseman talks about taking on the role of James Brown and hopefully living up to the expectations that fans want to see.
When did producers approach you for this role? When did you decide to do it?
Chadwick Boseman: I was a ware of the script in April or May of last year. I was approached in July. The first time I had a real conversation about it was in June, but July was when I talked to Tate. I didn’t decide I wanted to do it until the end of August because it just felt like something no one should do. (laughs) Nobody should try this. I didn’t know who could do it. In my head I was like, “Man, they’re never gonna get that made.”
What is the challenge of you playing James Brown? Was it the voice? Was it the singing?
Chadwick Boseman: The man in general. Who he really was is the challenge. There’s the caricature that has been projected of him, and some of that stuff is really funny. The Eddie Murphy stuff is really funny, but I knew I couldn’t go through a whole movie doing that. How could you take this man seriously and do honor to him? That was the difficult task, finding something that’s real. I just spent time trying to figure out who he was as a person and what the difference is between the persona and the caricature. The persona is still him, you may step into a room and put on a persona for people. He talks about that a lot, when people meet James Brown they need to feel like they should have paid money to see him at all times. Everybody has a story about him, everybody who worked for him. He’d perform then go backstage and get his hair done. He doesn’t come out until his hair’s done! Even if he was going to the grocery store or the movies that day he’d have to get his hair done before he goes out. That’s James Brown, because anybody who sees him has to know they’re seeing James Brown. I had to understand what was that and what was the person.
How long did it take you before you knew those lyrics and how much of his music did you know growing up?
Chadwick Boseman: With the singing you’re hearing live performances of his music in different years, so a lot of the singing is actually him. I sung every song. If you were present for every song you would have heard me singing to the playback. The microphone was on and sometimes we went past the playback. You continued to perform “Cold Sweat” or “Man’s World” even without him. There are moments where it’s just me. Tate brought this to my attention, I didn’t really realize it, there’s three versions of “Please” in the movie: There’s the recorded version when we’re actually recording the song in that movie, that’s him. It’s his recording, but there’s another version of “Please” where it actually is all me singing, he’s not singing at all, and there’s another version where it’s mostly him and I’m filling in some gaps where the recordings were faulty because it’s live. Then there’s some moments where it’s not recordings, it’s me singing. It’s just a mixture of us.
You’ve done Jackie Robinson, you’ve done “Draft Day,” did you ever think as an actor you’d be getting these roles where it’s just you 90% of the movie? Or playing an iconic figure like James Brown where it all falls on you?
Chadwick Boseman: I think you want that, you know what I’m saying? That as an actor you want opportunities to do that. You don’t want it all the time. That’s one of the reasons I did “Draft Day,” because after “42” I didn’t want all the pressure on my next movie. After this I didn’t want the pressure so I did “Gods of Egypt” where it’s Gerard Butler and Geoffrey Rush to take some of the weight. You don’t want to do this every time. That’s why you see your Denzels, they don’t shoot three or four movies a year, they maybe do two. I’m happy it’s happened, I feel very blessed that it’s happening and I want it to continue to happen, but I also would be happy to work on some ensemble stuff where you don’t have to see me in every scene. That’s fine too.
This is an ensemble movie in that you’re working with Viola, Octavia, a lot of fantastic actors. What did you pick up when you’re working with these people who are veterans of the game?
Chadwick Boseman: Octavia is just seamless. She has funny quirks about her. I actually didn’t work as much with her, I did one scene with her that did not wind up in the movie, so maybe it’ll be in the director’s cut. Most of her scenes are with the twins that play the young James Brown. I also watched her when she came to set and I was working too. It’s great to see how real she is, and simple, and how much that transfers on screen. She’s not putting on anything. A lot of times people feel like they have to become something totally different when they get to set, become a movie star. She realizes that her normal, regular self that she is is a movie star. That’s all she needs. It’s refreshing to see that, and she’s warm. Working with Viola is super intense and it’s like she’s preparing for a fight! (laughs) She is preparing for a fight and I have a lot of respect for her. Just the way she approaches her work and how serious she is. I watched her from afar, how she worked with the hair and makeup people to get her look right, wardrobe people to get her look right, all that’s about getting her to a place where she’s ready to step into the set and do what she does. Once she steps onto the set it’s magic. She steps onto the set you’re like, “What?” In our scene where she takes the drink and she gulps it down, I knew at that moment that she was about to do something really special, and she did. Jill was just a joy to work with. She seeks the difficult moments, she wanted to do her own stunt where she had to fall on the table. She wanted to do it another time and another time. A lot of people wouldn’t have wanted the physical or emotional part of that.
When people see this movie, what part of the man do you want to be remembered?
Chadwick Boseman: I want them to… you love people even when they’re not perfect. You love their imperfections, their flaws. I want them to walk away knowing the real person, knowing much more than they did before and loving him for the music and for the flaws, because he’s not perfect. I want people to appreciate what he’s given us, what he’s sacrificed to give. I was doing the top 25… I had to do 26 because I couldn’t make a decision on 25… hip hip songs of all-time with James Brown samples, I had to do this with beats music. I was like, “this song too? Really?” There’s so many of them. If you think about that we wouldn’t have that. Who would have been the inspiration for Bruno Mars and Michael Jackson and Prince? Justin Timberlake and Usher? That’s worldwide. Not just his music but them too. Tina Turner… Mick Jagger… it’s crazy. Still would have been a Mick Jagger but it wouldn’t be the same Mick Jagger, you know?
