http://www.variety.com/ar...id=16&cs=1

James Gandolfini to play Gaye's Belgian mentor during singer's final years

"Sexual Healing", the biopic of legendary soul singer Marvin Gaye, has confirmed James Gandolfini ("The Sopranos") will produce the film with his Attaboy Films and will also co-star in the film as Gaye's Belgian mentor and friend, Freddy Cousaert, alongside Jesse L. Martin ("Rent", "Law & Order"), who will play the enigmatic late singer.

Due to ownership rights, the producers of the film were unable to produce a comprehensive biopic of the singer covering his pioneering Motown career, instead the film will focus on the singer's final four years of his life from his parting with Motown to his struggles to end drug addiction to his comeback, which culminated in the release of his biggest-selling album, Midnight Love, which was entirely recorded in Belgium in 1982 and finally the singer's tragic 1984 death at the hands of his father.

The film will begin shooting this April and will be filmed in Massachusetts, Ostend, Belgium - Marvin's early 1980s residence, and Los Angeles, the site of his murder.

----
When this was originally announced, I was mad that it wasn't gonna be a comprehensive biography film but now I'm actually looking forward to this. I wanted to know more about Marvin's relationship with Freddy. Marvin did have a bit of life over there.

Go Jesse! This man was born to play Marvin.

Why can't they come up with a better title than sexual healing. Once again limiting the man's legacy to just one song.

rebelsoldier said:

I heard there's another biopic in the works so hopefully if that gets off the ground and Universal allows Marvin's music to be used, you may be in luck. Keep the faith!

martin's not too old?

That's a weird headline. They barely even mention that Jesse's gonna be starring as Marvin.

sosgemini said:

He's 39.

Paris9748430 said:

I know, right? LOL!

I also heard that John Legend was set to play Smokey Robinson...Is this still true?

shorttrini said:

What? I hadn't heard that, lol!

What sort of title is that? Surely there are better Marvin songs that would make good biopic titles. What about "Flyin' High". That sort of sounds cool as a biopic title.

DarlingDiana said:

I bet you they'll call it simply Marvin,..or After Midnight

Timmy84 said:

I had first seen it on IMB.com. A movie database. It listed Legend as Smokey. This was sometime last year. But, then I heard that the project fell through. Glad to see, that it is on again.

shorttrini said:

Oh OK, I'll probably have to go check it again but I'm gonna be disappointed if the project falls into more problems.

Timmy84 said:

Sounds like a great premise; my guess is that this could be an intensive character study. Looking forward to it, if it gets off the ground.

namepeace said:

What I'm thinking is they would glance back at Marvin's past to see what made the man tick. Of course a younger man will have to play Marvin during his early period and then flash forward to the current time when he ponders while possibly getting high on crack cocaine and being depressed. This could be like "Ray" a little back without the Hollywood ending since Marvin's life was such a Greek tragedy almost.

Timmy84 said:

I'd hope they could do that, but even if they didn't, if Martin has the depth and nuance to convey the backstory by how he portrays Gaye in real time, it could work. I agree with you, though, Gaye's story needs to be told from beginning to end. Who couldn't back this movie? If done as well as Ray or Walk The Line, it could be a better story movie-wise than either because of the Greek tragedy element you spoke of.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

sosgemini said:

Jesse L. Martin is only 39 years old, but he definitely looks older (more mature-looking) than that. Personally, he doesn't look like Marvin Gaye at all; he's a dead ringer for basketball great Karl Malone:





I personally thought actor Phil Morris more resembled Gaye than any other actor (at one point 20 years ago, there was talk about casting Morris in the role of Gaye in a biography of the late singer). When he was younger he looked like the '60s-era Gaye, IMO, and even now he's not that far in age from when Gaye died:


[Edited 2/3/08 11:19am]

LittleAmy said:

Eh, I still think Jesse can look like Marvin. I thought he was on the "Rent" film for real. Wasn't his character wearing a beanie/kufi like Marvin? I think so. I think he can pull it off. Phil Morris not so much, unless he was to play Marvin from beginning to end on that other Marvin biopic that was spoken about.

Timmy84 said:

So wearing a skull cap is a qualification for looking like Marvin Gaye -- and that actually makes sense to you? Don't tell Brian McKnight that.

I didn't say anything about Jesse L. Martin's acting abilities -- I commented on the fact he looks exactly like Karl Malone (not to mention I recall on his days of "Law and Order" he certainly has more of the build to play The Mailman).

Phil Morris, on the other hand, is a longer-established actor who actually has a resemblance to Gaye so I don't see how Martin can "pull it off" more than Morris. Plus, your final statement seems to be an oxymoron -- Morris is apparently not qualified enough to play Gaye in his final years but qualified enough to play a role of Gaye throughout his life (even though Morris now is not that far in age from when Gaye died).
[Edited 2/3/08 11:00am]

LittleAmy said:

No, but it certainly helped. The way his expressions were, I felt, "ok, I can see him doing Marvin", I don't get the big deal about Morris though. We'll see one day.

Timmy84 said:

Phil Morris = longer established actor, resembles Marvin Gaye, is close to same age as Gaye when the singer died:





I have no problems with Jesse L. Martin as an actor, but IMO whenever I see him the first thing I think is "He looks like Karl Malone." And based on what I have seen of him on "Ally McBeal" and "Law and Order" over the years he doesn't fit the profile to play Marvin Gaye, IMO.
[Edited 2/3/08 11:28am]

Oh I agree, he does resemble younger Marvin but I wonder how he'll adapt to the older, bearded Marvin. They could use him for "Sexual Healing" to 'reminisce' on Marvin's early life/career, lol.

Timmy84 said:

If Phil Morris has a resemblance to Marvin Gaye without the goatee, adding a goatee to Morris isn't going to make him look dramatically different than Gaye in his final years (the bigger issue is to give Morris the appearance of the receding hairline Gaye had). Plus, it seems odd to use an older actor to play a younger Gaye and a younger actor who doesn't resemble Gaye to play the singer at the end of his life.
[Edited 2/3/08 11:27am]

LittleAmy said:

In other words, they wouldn't even use him (Morris), lol. If Marvin's film was made around 1984, 1985, 1986, maybe Greg would've pulled it off.

Timmy84 said:

So instead, it makes sense to you for Karl Malone (who is several years younger than when Marvin Gaye died) to play Marvin Gaye. It makes no sense to me. Not to mention Jesse L. Martin today (39) is much older than Phil Morris was in your timeframe (24 to 26), so again that's not making sense.

IMO, it makes more sense for Phil Morris to play Gaye in this movie detailing the final years of the singer's life and to cast Martin in another movie entailing the singer's entire life (Motown years to his death). In the proposed movie, there shouldn't be much in terms of musical performances (I only see "Sexual Healing" and "Sanctified Lady" as central pieces played, but mostly a focus on Gaye's emotional rehabilitation until his death). A full-length movie of Gaye's life at Motown until his death seems to be more suited for Martin's talents (where musical scores will be required).

P.S. I believe you meant Phil Morris -- Greg Morris (of "Mission: Impossible" fame) was his father.
[Edited 2/3/08 11:52am]

LittleAmy said:

He don't look nothing like the Mailman to me. Hey, I didn't think Jamie Foxx or Angela Bassett look like Ray Charles and Tina Turner but they pulled it off, didn't they?

And do I have to mention this woman:



...playing this woman:



It may not be fair but that's how it goes with musical bios.

Timmy84 said:

If you say so -- there are the pictures to show the resemblance between Jesse L. Martin and Karl Malone.

Timmy84 said:

The problem is, you haven't presented anything to state that Martin can pull it more than Phil Morris other than "BECAUSE I SAID SO." It's not like you were going to find an established actor on the scene a decade ago who resembles Tina Turner, which is different from what is being discussed. You have one actor who not only has been acting longer than the other, but actually looks like the subject in question and is roughly the same age and build (a bonus, IMO).

As I stated in my post I just revised, Morris makes much more sense to play this movie (Gaye at the end of his life) and Karl Malone may be better suited in a movie of Gaye from the Motown years forward.
[Edited 2/3/08 11:59am]

Plus Jesse Martin ain't the only one "who don't look nothing like" the legend he's playing but do these people resemble the legends they play?



...playing:



At one point this guy:



played this legend:



So Jesse playing Marvin ain't as different as you may think. I'm just happy they're making the dagnabbit film about Marvin!

At one time this guy supposedly had the film rights to play him in a movie but I guess he sold it:



Just saying.

Of course there have been plenty of movies where actors have been cast who may not fully resemble the subejct at hand, but a lot of those are the product of not having an actor on the scene who resembles the subject.

That's not the case here. There actually is an actor who does resemble the subject at hand and has more acting experience than the other person cast (Greg Morris was a regular on a major television series while Jesse L. Martin was in high school). Not to mention it seems like this movie on this part of Marvin Gaye's life is more apt for Morris' talents than Martin's.

Again, you haven't said how Martin is better suited than Morris other than "BECAUSE I SAID SO."
[Edited 2/3/08 12:06pm]