by Danny Peary
I loved you as Jackie Robinson in 42 and it was quite a relief to me that you did him justice. When you play a real life figure like Robinson or James Brown and know people might get mad at you if you do it wrong, is that a burden, a challenge, or an opportunity?
There might be a few days where you see it as a burden, but once you’ve taken it on, it’s too late to think that way. Then you’ve got to see it as a challenge and an opportunity.
Would it be easier for you to play a person nobody heard of?
Sure, and I love it when I get the chance. In fact, I filmed a movie called Draft Day, starring Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner, and I play a totally made-up character. So, I’m not stuck playing icons. He’s not a real person, but he will be once you see who he is.
When I think of Jackie Robinson, I think of the words defiant, courageous, and forward thinking. Do any of those words apply to James Brown?
James Brown created two phases in music, so that’s pretty forward thinking and courageous. I would tend to say James Brown was fearless. There’s a legend that goes along with that. It’s almost mythical – the idea that he was stillborn, and his aunt had to breathe life into him for him to come to. That’s one of the legends of James Brown. From reading and hearing from his family members that he was dead at the beginning, I believe that his magical birth created a sense of fearlessness in him. So, he walked through life fearless, ready to do anything.
Do you think that if he didn’t have that birth, or his upbringing, or experience poverty, that his music would have been the same?
Probably not. I would say that in songs like “There Was a Time,” he was clearly talking about seeing a beauty in this moment. There’s a sense of abandonment there, an out-in-the-woods abandonment, but he found some music in that and so I think to a certain degree the world is blessed because he went through what he went through as a kid.
James Brown’s song “Say It Out Loud” has the subtitle, “I’m Black and I’m Proud.” Did he think that way his entire life and was that a driving theme for him?
I would say no. From what I’ve read and heard people say, I’d guess that those exact words put together were not necessarily his philosophy the entire time. I would say that he found his own journey through this African, disparate experience. Growing up as a dark-skinned person, being a lead singer – you just have to imagine what gave him the confidence to do the things that he was doing. At the time, when there were the Jackie Wilsons and the Sam Cookes, he didn’t stand down to any of them. He had a love for himself amidst people who might not see him that way. So, he’s a very interesting character. I think that “I’m Black and I’m Proud” would connect him to a time period, a very political time when black people were beginning to have a different sense of identity. So, he attached his philosophy to that… But I would definitely not say that it was his exact philosophy the entire time.
