Wesley Snipes as Thelonious Monk?

[EKE BBB]

WESLEY SNIPES AS THELONIOUS MONK?: ‘El Cantante’ director wants actor to play jazz innovator in planned biopic.

(August 1, 2007)

*Leon Ichaso, director of the new film “El Cantante” starring Marc Anthony and his wife Jennifer Lopez, says he would love to have Wesley Snipes star in his planned biopic of jazz legend Thelonious Monk.

"Wesley Snipes is aware of the project... I think he's kept the same innocence that Thelonious had and something very specific about the face. He looks like him,” Ichaso said at a recent press junket. "Thelonious has almost like an ebony-etched kind of a face and an innocence and I think that would be a fit for Wesley.”

Ichaso’s “El Cantante” is a biopic about salsa legend Hector Lavoe, who famously struggled to balance his incredible talent with the turmoil of his personal life, which included drug addiction and a suicide attempt. Lavoe died of HIV-related causes in 1993 at age 46.

For his Monk biopic, Ichaso hopes to portray the jazz legend’s battle with similar personal demons.

"Monk is a man who had all the odds stacked against him and became one of the most influential jazz and bebop musicians," said Ichaso.

http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur35509.cfm

and also here:

http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/07/31/direc...us-monk-biopic/

[Rosco]

Wasn't Snipes going to play Miles at one point? Nothing ever came of that.

A Levoe biopic sounds interesting, not sure about the casting though.

[brownie]

... as long as they don't have J-Lo play Nellie

[MoGrubb]

They might can make Snipes a good fit portraying Monk. Sounds good as long as they retain musical and biographical authenticity and don't use "profiling" as the main focus, using JLo's fine ass, etc. as the centerpiece of the film. [i didn't read the complete articles/links.]

[Joe G]

Buff Monk

[Tom Storer]

I never got the impression that Monk was "battling personal demons." That's such a contemporary cliché. To me that would be a description, for example, of a drug addict who really, really wanted to clean up his act but couldn't due to his all-too-human weaknesses, scars from childhood tragedy, etc. Cue the violins.

It always seemed to me that Monk was solidly himself--never heard any reports of him wanting or trying to change his ways.

[Daniel A]

On the other hand it appears that he had quite serious mental problems.

This is an episode from "Thelonious Monk - His Life and Music" by Thomas Fitterling (Berkeley Hills, 1997)

As when he lost his cabaret card the first time Monk had few opportunities to appear publicly in New York, and he was reluctant to play elsewhere. An episode in the autumn of 1959 did not help. It incidentally shows how, while his professional career was thriving, his psychological problems were getting worse. He was booked in Boston, and arrived at his hotel very late. He proceeded to take a few turns in the lobby, staring at the walls. The hotel manager, when Monk finally asked for his room, took him for a nut and refused to give it to him. Monk went to his engagement, played two numbers with his band, then called for a break. Around 11:30 he returned to the stage, and played the same numbers again. He then sat for some time before the piano in silence. At this point the band packed up and left. Finally Monk himself departed. He took a taxi to the airport in hopes of catching a flight to New York. But the flights had all left. He roamed the airport grounds in silence, until state police picked him up and took him to Grafton State Hospital in Worcester. He was held there a week for psychiatric observation. At his home, meanwhile, no one knew where he was. The Boston police could give no information, and no one thought to ask the state police. A telegram from the hospital was never recieved.

From then on, Monk rarely travelled alone. Usually Nellie accompanied him. When necessary, Harry Colomby or Colomby's brother would fill in as his escort. Monk would regularly deflect questions as to his eccentricity with the remark, 'I can't be crazy. The had me in a nut house once and let me go.'

This is the kind of episode which seems likely to turn up in the film...

[Dan Gould]

On the other hand it appears that he had quite serious mental problems.

This is an episode from "Thelonious Monk - His Life and Music" by Thomas Fitterling (Berkeley Hills, 1997)

As when he lost his cabaret card the first time Monk had few opportunities to appear publicly in New York, and he was reluctant to play elsewhere. An episode in the autumn of 1959 did not help. It incidentally shows how, while his professional career was thriving, his psychological problems were getting worse. He was booked in Boston, and arrived at his hotel very late. He proceeded to take a few turns in the lobby, staring at the walls. The hotel manager, when Monk finally asked for his room, took him for a nut and refused to give it to him. Monk went to his engagement, played two numbers with his band, then called for a break. Around 11:30 he returned to the stage, and played the same numbers again. He then sat for some time before the piano in silence. At this point the band packed up and left. Finally Monk himself departed. He took a taxi to the airport in hopes of catching a flight to New York. But the flights had all left. He roamed the airport grounds in silence, until state police picked him up and took him to Grafton State Hospital in Worcester. He was held there a week for psychiatric observation. At his home, meanwhile, no one knew where he was. The Boston police could give no information, and no one thought to ask the state police. A telegram from the hospital was never recieved.

From then on, Monk rarely travelled alone. Usually Nellie accompanied him. When necessary, Harry Colomby or Colomby's brother would fill in as his escort. Monk would regularly deflect questions as to his eccentricity with the remark, 'I can't be crazy. The had me in a nut house once and let me go.'

This is the kind of episode which seems likely to turn up in the film...

Agreed but the problem I suspect will be that a Hollywood biopic is more likely to portray his problems to have been a result of drug use/abuse rather than one of mental illness.

I have virtually no hope that this film will accurately portray Monk and find it surprising that its even being considered. Wasn't it Monk who was said to be capable of going weeks without speaking? What would Hollywood do with a character like that? The only thing that made Ray watchable was the performance by Jamie Foxx. I fully expect that a movie about Monk will be equally loose with the facts but not have nearly as sympathetic a portrayal at its center.

[Chuck Nessa]

Sounds like crap. Hope the family doesn't sign off on this.

[marcello]

I cringe whenever I hear news like this.

Or as Chuck says: I get the Heebie Jeebies

[paul secor]

Snipes probably needs the money to pay off his tax debt. Hope the Monk family isn't as desperate.

[Kalo]

I'm more worried about the rumored casting of Mel Gibson as Orrin Keepnews.

[ValerieB]

I'm more worried about the rumored casting of Mel Gibson as Orrin Keepnews.

oh, my great god, sooga-tooga!!! now i've heard everything. that's really hysterical though!! casting straight out of an LSD trip!

[Larry Kart]

Isabella Rossellini as the Baroness?

[7/4]

Isabella Rossellini as the Baroness?

hubba hubba.

[brownie]

Isabella Rossellini as the Baroness?

Winona Ryder!

Remember, this is Hollywood

[MoGrubb]

If Monk had a mental illness and/or used drugs it was kept pretty much a secret. I hope and suspect the incident culminating in his wandering the airport grounds was an isolated incident.

'Course, Horrywood's gotta make money....And, everything has to relate to today's crowd, the now generation. Jazz music isn't currently popular, but dope and "sensationalism" is. Personally I think Monk's music, the musicians and their interactions and families would be sensational enough for a flick.

[BruceH]

I'm more worried about the rumored casting of Mel Gibson as Orrin Keepnews.

Only if Mel got to direct, produce, and finance the film himself. And Monk's life just wasn't violent enough.

[jazzbo]

If Monk had a mental illness and/or used drugs it was kept pretty much a secret. I hope and suspect the incident culminating in his wandering the airport grounds was an isolated incident.

'Course, Horrywood's gotta make money....And, everything has to relate to today's crowd, the now generation. Jazz music isn't currently popular, but dope and "sensationalism" is. Personally I think Monk's music, the musicians and their interactions and families would be sensational enough for a flick.

I think it's quite easy for me to come to the conclusion that Monk had some mental health issues. I see evidence of it in what I've read and seen. . . maybe I have a predisposition to spot (or "imagine" if you disagree with me) signs of this due to experiences in the lives of several very close to me. But. . . I see the signs. . . I see what looks like heavy "self-dedication"/"self-medication" and I see how fortunate he was to have had Nellie.

Edited August 14, 2007 by jazzbo

[Noj]

Snipes as Thelonious to film's antagonist: "Always bet on Monk."

[ValerieB]

If Monk had a mental illness and/or used drugs it was kept pretty much a secret. I hope and suspect the incident culminating in his wandering the airport grounds was an isolated incident.

'Course, Horrywood's gotta make money....And, everything has to relate to today's crowd, the now generation. Jazz music isn't currently popular, but dope and "sensationalism" is. Personally I think Monk's music, the musicians and their interactions and families would be sensational enough for a flick.

I think it's quite easy for me to come to the conclusion that Monk had some mental health issues. I see evidence of it in what I've read and seen. . . maybe I have a predisposition to spot (or "imagine" if you disagree with me) signs of this due to experiences in the lives of several very close to me. But. . . I see the signs. . . I see what looks like heavy "self-dedication" and I see how fortunate he was to have had Nellie.

absolutely, jazzbo, on both counts.

[RDK]

If Monk had a mental illness and/or used drugs it was kept pretty much a secret. I hope and suspect the incident culminating in his wandering the airport grounds was an isolated incident.

'Course, Horrywood's gotta make money....And, everything has to relate to today's crowd, the now generation. Jazz music isn't currently popular, but dope and "sensationalism" is. Personally I think Monk's music, the musicians and their interactions and families would be sensational enough for a flick.

Yeah, H'wood's gotta make money, which is why a Monk biopic is a serious longshot. Much as i love him, Monk's story is pretty uneventful by biopic standards. It has nothing to do with "sensationalism" in this case, but more the fact that nobody outside the classic jazz community knows who he is and he didn't do anything worthy of dramatizing his life story.

Not gonna happen...

[Rosco]

I don't think we're talking about a Hollywood blockbuster here. Ichaso has had a long career as a hack TV director, including a credit directing a lame Hendrix biopic (remember that one? No? There's a reason for that...). He's working on a movie about Hector Lavoe, fercryingoutloud. If that doesn't have 'straight-to-DVD' written all over it..... (Latin American market notwithstanding)

There's no way he'd even get Snipes, unless Wes really needs the work these days.

Not gonna happen.

[robviti]

from a 2004 interview with Monk's son:

T.S. says Monk Sr. was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1964, and was one of the first anywhere to take lithium. The pianist continued to perform, regardless. Of course, his mental state caused some unusual behavior. Monk would pace endlessly, and twirl, nonstop in airports. He’d sometimes drift off into never-never-land. But T. S. says he can’t recall his dad ever missing a gig, or giving a subpar performance because of the illness. (He also says his father retired, not because he was mentally incapable of playing — as is often reported — but because he had had prostate surgery, which made prolonged periods of sitting and playing extremely uncomfortable.)

“Around the age of 12, my mother started explaining my father’s illness to me, and I learned that I had to look after him just as much as he looked out for us,” T.S. says. “So me, my mother and sister were absolutely dedicated to him.”

And, T.S. adds, Monk was always dedicated to them. “He had this unique way of building our self-esteem. He believed in us. He was glad that we were a part of him. He used to tell us that all the time.”

[porcy62]

I'm more worried about the rumored casting of Mel Gibson as Orrin Keepnews.

In this case would be hired Danny Glover as Monk, and the title would be Lethal Rootie Tootie