Around this time last year I was walking onto the
movie set of the
James Brown biopic Get on Up. When I found out the movie
would be filmed in my home state and that a casting company was
searching for locals to play extras, I just couldn't turn down the
opportunity to submit for a role even if it was small. I mean how
many people can look back on their life and say they were in a
movie especially about a man who was so influential to music
history.
James Brown biopic Get on Up. When I found out the movie
would be filmed in my home state and that a casting company was
searching for locals to play extras, I just couldn't turn down the
opportunity to submit for a role even if it was small. I mean how
many people can look back on their life and say they were in a
movie especially about a man who was so influential to music
history.
I was selected to be an extra in 3 scenes; a church
scene, a concert
scene, and a club scene. The experience was so exciting and the
best part was being transformed into a person from a different time
period. Each day started off with wardrobe, makeup and hair
styling, and from there the extras were taken to the set for a long
day of filming. Filming could start at 10 am and not end until 1 am
the next day. Each scene was filmed from different angles so that
alone took a few hours. In my concert scene, I had to be a young
concert goer who had to scream and dance while James Brown was
performing. When the director yelled for the filming to stop in
between each take, we had to recharge our energy and when the
cameras started back rolling we had to become those excited
screaming fans again. The first hour or two of doing this was fun
but 9 hours in was exhausting (LOL). But if I had the opportunity
to do it again I definitely would. I have a new level of respect for
actors after being a part of the movie process and seeing what they
go through in order to film one small scene.
This was the day I got fitted for the church scene. 1950's church girl
The day the trailer for the movie was released, my
twin sister who
was also in the movie woke me up out of my sleep to watch it. We
screamed like little school girls as we searched the trailer intensely
trying to find ourselves so we could screen shot a picture to our
family and friends. At the end of July, a movie premiere was
held in Natchez, Mississippi and I was invited to attend along with
several other extras. My opinion might be somewhat biased but I
thought the movie was pretty good. It definitely wasn't the typical
biopic; it focused more so on James Browns’ performances and not
so much on his personal life. To see how the movie came together
after being a part of the filming was amazing. Those 13 hour scenes
that I was in were only about 5 or 6 minutes in the actual movie. I
did see myself VERY briefly in some scenes but if you blinked you
was also in the movie woke me up out of my sleep to watch it. We
screamed like little school girls as we searched the trailer intensely
trying to find ourselves so we could screen shot a picture to our
family and friends. At the end of July, a movie premiere was
held in Natchez, Mississippi and I was invited to attend along with
several other extras. My opinion might be somewhat biased but I
thought the movie was pretty good. It definitely wasn't the typical
biopic; it focused more so on James Browns’ performances and not
so much on his personal life. To see how the movie came together
after being a part of the filming was amazing. Those 13 hour scenes
that I was in were only about 5 or 6 minutes in the actual movie. I
did see myself VERY briefly in some scenes but if you blinked you
could easily miss me (LOL). The acting was great and I think
Chadwick Boseman did an excellent job portraying James Brown.
I think he is going to be the next Denzel Washington. He seemed
very humble and nice AND he isn't bad to look at either! ;-)
Chadwick if you ever come across this, get at me!
The Tami Concert (1960s). This was my favorite look, I felt like a young Diana Ross.
It was a great experience overall and it was so
exciting to walk
among famous actors like Octavia Spencer, Dan Aykroyd, Craig
Robinson and Chadwick Boseman. I got a little taste of Hollywood
and the experience will always be something I will look back on
and smile. Life is short so live in the moments that make you smile
and try to create memories that will last a lifetime!
The Get on Up Movie Premiere in Natchez, Mississippi.
Get on Up movie trailer
Chadwick Boseman interview
he is an okay actor. I don't think he will portray black panther good. An African should be Black Panther not this dude. good luck to him anyway. He will never be denzel. Denzel and Will Smith are the most successful black men actor alltime it will be hard for anyone to compete with them.
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