Wesley Snipes Won't Sing as Spike's James Brown

Monday

26Jan2009

Wesley Snipes Won't Sing as Spike's James Brown

Monday, January 26, 2009 at 6:55PM

So Wesley Snipes will be playing James Brown in an upcoming biopic directed by Spike Lee. One of those things I'm not so sure of, and it's Wesley Snipes playing the Godfather of Soul. I mean, he's fine and all, but I just can't see him pulling this one off.

Be that as it may, MTV talked to Spike recently, and the director said that Snipes will only go so far in his portrayal of Soul Brother #1, The Minister of the New Super Heavy Funk, The Hardest Working Man in Show Business. Snipes will go the Jamie Foxx route, meaning he'll act the part but when it comes to the musical stuff, he'll lip sync.

“I want to hear James Brown’s voice,” said Spike. “That’s just my personal taste.”

I can think of another reason: Nobody else can sound that much like James Brown, just as nobody could sound that much like Ray Charles. Spike went on to say that even though Joaquin Phoenix sang in Walk the Line, he'll go with the overdubs because, "I'm a purist."

Actually, though, not using your actor's ability isn't being a purist, when you get right down to it, but whatever the reasons, using Brown's voice is probably a better option.

I'm still not sure I get the Snipes thing, though; it feels very "comeback" to me, but I think he's totally wrong for the part. It would be like casting Russell Crowe to play Roy Orbison.

Colin Boyd |

Permalink | in

Bio-pic,

Spike Lee,

Wesley Snipes |

Print Article |

Email Article |

1 Comment |

Reader Comments (1)

Ahh I can already see the massacre that Spike Lee is making, 9 in hand.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009 |

Julian Francis

Post a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »

Author:

Author Email (optional):

Author URL (optional):

Post:

↓ | ↑

Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>