Brian Grazer has brought several memorable real-life stories of accomplishment over adversity to the screen such as John Nash in A Beautiful Mind and Eminem in 8 Mile. He does it again in Get On Up, directed by Tate Taylor (The Help), the incredible life story of “The Godfather of Soul,” also known as “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” — Mr. James Brown. Born dirt-poor in South Carolina during the Great Depression, James Brown survived a young life of abandonment, abuse, reform school, and jail to become one of the most influential performers of all time. Though he died in 2006, James Brown’s music continues to inspire and inform artists today. With an awe-inspiring performance by Chadwick Boseman (42) as James Brown, Get On Up features an exquisite ensemble cast that includes Viola Davis as Brown’s mother Susie Brown, Octavia Spencer as his influential Aunt Honey, Nelsan Ellis as Brown’s fellow musician and lifelong friend Bobby Byrd, and Dan Aykroyd as his manager and agent Ben Bart. I spoke to Brian Grazer about his more than a decade-long involvement with this project.
Danny Miller: I know many of the films you’ve produced have very long lifespans before any cameras start to roll, but it seems like this one had a particularly long gestation.
Brian Grazer: Absolutely! I first talked to James Brown about doing a film about his life about 15 years ago. It took a couple of years from that point to get the rights to make the film and from that moment on we’ve been working on scripts. I’ve been living this for about a dozen years, trying to find just the right actor and director. That’s a really challenging combination for a story like this. Then, in the middle of all that, James Brown died and I lost the rights! A year later, Mick Jagger ended up with the rights to the story and called me up. He said, “I’ve read your script and thought it was really good. I like you and your work so let’s do this movie together!” So, yeah, this film has been a part of my life for a very long time!
I talked to Chadwick Boseman last year for 42 and while I thought he gave a phenomenal performance as Jackie Robinson, it wasn’t a no-brainer to me that he’d be able to pull off James Brown. I was flabbergasted by how great he was in this movie!
I felt exactly the same way that you did. I thought Chad was great in 42 but that was really kind of a stoic character — a very different persona from James Brown. It was Tate Taylor who had the unwavering belief that Chad could do this part and boy, was he right! This guy has a skill set that is just crazy. Mick and I didn’t know at first whether those skills would transfer over to this story but Chadwick Boseman is just an extremely talented man!
I assume you had other people lined up for the role over those 12 years of development?
Oh, yeah, for sure, we got pretty far with some really great actors who shall remain nameless, but let me tell you — none of them were as good as Chad!
You’ve made lots of movies about real people. Do you feel a different kind of responsibility when you’re working on those films?
Definitely — you feel a HUGE weight of responsibility. Like in Apollo 13, finding someone who could be Jim Lovell was really hard. John Nash in A Beautiful Mind, too. They and their families were still alive and their legacies were so strong you feel a lot of pressure to get it right. You have to find an actor who can look right, act right, and still have the story be truthful. Ultimately, even if there are elements of the character that are unlikable, those have to somehow be eclipsed by the greatness of who they were and what they accomplished, whether it’s the Apollo astronauts or the Doors or James Brown. You want to make it real but you are also celebrating the person’s achievements.
I have to say I was very impressed that you didn’t shy away at all from some of the more complex and difficult parts of James Brown’s personality. Do you think if he were still alive, he would have encouraged you to include those elements?
Oh, absolutely. I had been working with James for so long on this project, I think he really trusted me. He knew that we really believed in him and his story and I know that he and his family felt that we were coming from the right place.
Did his family members have to sign off on the film in any way?
Not contractually, but you certainly want to get their approval, both on moral grounds and practically — you don’t want anyone associated with a person you’re making a movie about to invalidate the film in any way.
Some of the scenes you show between Brown and his second wife are a little dicey. Did you involve her in the making of the film?
Me, personally? No. I don’t know how you are, but I’m the kind of guy who once we’re on track and there’s good news about what we’re doing, I stop looking! After 12 years of working on this film, I don’t stop and say, “Who else do we need to talk to?”
I’m sure if anyone has any issues with the depiction, you’ll hear about it. It was such a joy to see this dream cast, including Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer who had worked with Tate Taylor on The Help. Were you and Mick Jagger involved in all of the casting decisions?
Oh, sure, we were very hands-on through the whole process, from casting the actors to the choreography! We were so lucky to get the amazing people in this cast.
Before I go, I wanted to say how excited I was to hear about the new Beatles documentary that Ron Howard is directing. Are you involved with that?
Yes, I’m producing it and I’m very psyched about that — another dream project! It’s going to be an amazing documentary, focusing on the touring years of the Beatles, from about 1960 to 1966. We’ll be talking to Paul and Ringo as well as Yoko and George’s wife, Olivia.