Actor Don Cheadle has fought long and hard for the Miles Davis biopic called “Miles Ahead” to get off the ground. There has been a lack of support from Hollywood and a lack of funding but it seems that things are finally getting off the ground for this film.
Cheadle was spotted on the streets of Cincinnati filming dressed as Davis hopping out of a green Jaguar. The film is set in New York in the 1970’s. The film is expected to continue to shoot in Cincinnati into August.
Cheadle recently did an interview with Entertainment Weekly about the upcoming film
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How does it feel to finally begin production on Miles Ahead—to be in costume and begin this process?
DON CHEADLE: It’s a great shot; it’s kinda cool, huh? I attribute that to my department to more than anything I’m doing: That’s hair, makeup, wardrobe, and props. But it’s cool to be sitting on it and have it all begin. At this point, with everything that’s happening, its real and surreal and hyperreal and every version of it that I can think of.
So you’re a longtime fan; you admired him as an artist and man. How did you decide that you were going to make a movie? It’s no small thing to embark on a project like this … especially not in this case, where you’re approaching this independently.
“This was something that had been a periphery for me. I never thought about portraying him, really. I had done several other quote-unquote biopics and was always struck by the limitations they presented, because they were trying to be historically accurate. Let’s be honest, any biopic is a series of omissions and conflations of events and amalgamations of characters. And you’re trying to have a movie experience under three hours, so in the process you condense people’s lives from cradle to grave, so things tend to feel episodic and event-oriented as opposed to a story about people and relationships and a character.”
“So I didn’t want to do another biopic. So when I heard the idea, from various people who had played with him, producers, writers, that this could potentially be something, I thought, ‘if the script is great, I would be open to it since he’s always been a fascinating figure to me.’”
“And then, in 2008, when Miles was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, his nephew was interviewed and was asked, ‘Would you ever do a movie on his life?” He said yes, and that Don Cheadle is going to play him. And I was like ‘I am?’”
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