Something struck me while watching the most recent episode of NBC’s Life, starring Band of Brothers‘ Damian Lewis as the ex-con cop who’s spent a little too much time in the "New Age" section of Borders. (No, it wasn’t that I need to rent me some L Word to, er, investigate his co-star Sarah Shahi’s previous work… In the words of Cleavon Little, ”I am not from Havana!”)
It was that if they ever make a Steve McQueen biopic — and they absolutely should — that Lewis should absolutely get the part. Not only is Lewis a great actor (his work in Keane will almost make you forget he was in Dreamcatcher) who can make his British accent disappear at will, but he’s a dead ringer for the Bullitt man. (That’s Lewis in Life on the left, McQueen in The Getaway on the right.)
Which then prompted me to think of other biopics I’d like to see and who I’d want to see in them. Me, personally, I want to see a Marvin Gaye movie. Not only is he a seminal figure in pop music history, but he started poor, hit the mountaintop, and was shot dead. By his father. And I’d want to see Law and Order’s Jesse L. Martin cage-match it out with Private Practice’s Taye Diggs for the part.
What about you? What biopic would you like to see, and who do you want to see in it?
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I’ve always thought Daniel Craig looked a lot like Steve McQueen, not so much in the above picture, but in a lot of other ones.
How about Mick Jagger? As legendary a figure as he is, no one knows that much about him. If Mick were to cooperate, that would really be cool. Who to play him? No idea; I can’t come up with EVERYTHING!
Mitch Hedber!
Marc, you need to make an appointment at your local Lens Crafters. As Marci said, Daniel Craig not only looks like McQueen more but would make a better choice.
I thought they WERE making a Marvin Gaye movie with Jesse L. Martin. Is that not happening? If so, that would be a shame.
I also think Daniel Craig would make a better Steve McQueen, although Damien Lewis is a very good actor (despite his embarrassingly bad work in “Dreamcatcher”…ugh!)
Also, how about a Bob Barker biopic…i can’t imagine who’d play him, but when I think about it, I watched the guy, basically, all my life and I don’t really know that much about him at all outside of TPIR, fistfights with Adam Sandler, and the occasional pseudo sex scandal with one of his beauties (which could be juicy stuff).
I think Lewis’s McQueen look is precisely why I was expecting the character in “Life” to be more of a generic “tough guy” character, and not the wonderfully loopy character Lewis and the writers have created. (Not that McQueen was generic, but when Hollywood looks for a “McQueen type,” it is gonna end up with a generic tough guy.)
C’mon….McQueen? Kevin McKidd (“Journeyman”, “Rome”) or Anthony Micheal Hall.
Absolutely. Jesse L. Martin as Marvin Gaye would be a perfect match. Jesse even looks like Marvin Gaye.
since music icons are the new flavor of biopics. who better than the greatest rock band EVER!!! a beatles movie would be awesome. the movie should only focus on the absolute height and the beak up. milo ventimigilia can play george. everyone else is a toss up.
As much as I love Daniel, I think Damian is a better fit for McQueen. Would love to see Terrence Howard as Jimi Hendrix (instead of Andre 3000). I would like to Jennifer Connolly/Catherine Zeta Jones or Emily Blunt as Elizabeth Taylor
They are so many biopics I’d like to see: Bonaparte (about the enigmatic Corsican general), Ulyssus S. Grant, Benedict Arnold, Eleanor Roosevelt (exploring the lesbian theory) for starters. I also think an Elton John or Mick Jagger biopic could be fun.
John DeLorean and the DMC-12! Think about it, a movie about John would have all the trappings of a great drama (think along the lines of Tucker): a self-made man who rose from virtual poverty in Detroit to become second in command in at one of the country’s largest automakers (GM) before leaving it all behind to start his own company. Throw in the lavish lifestyle, the women he dated, the stars he knew, the cocaine scandal (very ambiguous on that part–leave it up to the viewer to decide did he do it willingly or FBI entrapment?!?), and eventual crash of the company (and current revival) and WHAM! Instant critically acclaimed movie.
I don’t have anything to add about biopics but want to thank you for the shout-out to Life, a great tv show, and Damien Lewis, who is awesome.
Damien Lewis’s work in Band of Brothers was utterly fantastic – he’s one of my favorite actors for that role alone.
On another note – is it just me, or does Lindsay Lohan strike you as our generation’s Elizabeth Taylor? Both gained their fame as uniquely beautiful (and talented) teen actresses, only to become more famous for their dating lives and various scandals?
Yeah, I just rewatched a few installments of ‘Band of Brothers’ on the History Channel, and Lewis would be the perfect choice. Good call Marc.
Michael Jackson (yes, I know that they did one on his family, but I would loooove to see one just about him)!
I would love to see a Elizabeth Taylor biopic. Maybe with Rose Byrne from “Damages.”
What about the Biggie Smalls movie? What ever hapened to that rumor? I am not a huge rap fan, but I would see that. I would love to see the Liz Taylor movie.
The only person suitable for a Steve McQueen Biopic is Daniel Craig. He could pass as his son, that’s how identical he looks.
I can see an Iggy Pop Biopic and have Anthony Kedis play the role of Iggy. At least he would do something decent for a change. RHCP lost their funkyness.
Is anything happening with the Janis Joplin movie?
Heck, I still want him and all the rest of ‘em to do a sequel to Band of Brothers — some of that juicy postwar angst they all went through. C’mon, he went to work for his super-rich best friend — and got a gun drawn on him by said friend’s super-rich evil dad! In a dressing gown! In a lake mansion! With a mistress! Can’t make this stuff up!
How about a biopic on Ella Fitzgerald? She had a really interesting, tough life…maybe with Jennifer Hudson or Queen Latifah. Added bonus: listening to Ella songs for two hours…
I agree. Daniel Craig is more Steve McQueen than Damien Lewis.
I know everyone is commenting on musicians, actors/actresses, and politicians but I have two sports figures who deserve biopics. Mickey Mantle and Larry Bird. Both intriguing stories, Mantle more for his career after baseball and his personal demons and Bird’s more for his childhood and teenage years before getting drafted by the Celtics and the rags to riches story(dirt poor in basketball rich Indiana, Father’s suicide, Working for Streets Department after leaving IU/Bobby Knight, child while at ISU/early marriage in college, and meeting with Magic in 1979 championship which revolutionized not only March Madness but the NBA).
Jesse L Martin already got cast in a biopic about Marvin Gaye. It’s due out next year.
Peter Dinklage with a blond dye job would be perfect for Steve McQueen, I know he’s a little too tall, but everybody else could slouch a little bit.
It’s a crime a Bob Marley biopic hasn’t been made yet. Maybe Rita’s holding out for more cash. Ben Harper could pull it off, if he’s got the acting chops. Not sure about actors.
Personally, I’d like to see more biopics about women musicians.If you only watched movies and never listened to music, you’d think that Tina Turner, Loretta Lynne, and Patsy Cline were the only women musicians in existance!
Chrissie Hynde, The Runaways, Tammy Wynette and Marianne Faithfull would all make for kickass bio-pics. And what about that long rumored Sarah Vaughn film? Grab Jennifer Hudson and get it started!
Dennis Farina in the Hal Linden biopic? For the Barney Miller scenes (and keeping with using Law & Order actors), B.D. Wong could do a mean Jack Soo.