NATCHEZ — The casting director for a James Brown biopic says she needs more people who are willing to work as extras in the movie.
Tammy Smith said she’s looking to hire 2,500 people from the Natchez area — but she needs twice that many to sign up.
“When you’re hiring 2,500 people, you need about 5,000 people because someone might not be available for that day or their hair style might not be stylable for the time period we’re looking for,” Smith said.
The Natchez Democrat reported that Smith said Friday she’s looking for people young and old, black and white. In particular, she needs some to appear in a country club scene and some in a fish house scene.
She said those chosen as extras will be called about a week before they need to show up for work.
“People always say, ‘I was just an extra,’ but there is no such thing as ‘just an extra,'” Smith said. “The people have to sell the period.”
The movie, “Get on Up,” will depict the life of the Godfather of Soul from about age 5 until 1993. Brown died in 2006.
Filming will take place in and around Natchez in November and December and in Jackson in early 2014. The movie will be directed by Jackson native Tate Taylor, who directed “The Help.”
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