Nelsan Ellis joins Tate Taylor’s James Brown biopic, Get on UpPosted by Wilson Morales
October 21, 2013
Source: Deadline
Nelsan Ellis, best known for playing Lafayette Reynolds on HBO’s “True Blood,” has joined the cast of the Tate Taylor‘s upcoming James Brown biopic,“Get on Up.”
Deadline states that he’ll Bobby Byrd, Brown’s lifelong friend and musical collaborator. 42’s Chadwick Boseman is set to play the Godfather of Soul.
Based on his incredible life story, ‘Get on Up’ 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.
Ellis, who recently played Martin Luther King Jr. in Lee Daniels’ The Butler, is the third cast member from Taylor’s Oscar nominated film, The Help to be ‘Get On Up.’ He joins Viola Davis and Oscar winner Octavia Spencer.
Universal will start production November in Mississippi. The script is by Jez Butterworth & John-Henry Butterworth and Steven Baigelman, and Victoria Pearman and Erica Huggins are also producing.
