André Benjamin Talks About Playing Jimi Hendrix In New Biopic

André Benjamin, still sometimes known by his OutKast moniker André 3000, stars in the new biopic Jimi: All Is By My Side, about one pivotal year in the life of Jimi Hendrix. As the movie opened in some theaters on Friday, Benjamin spoke with media outlets about the film and portraying the iconic musician.

In an interview with Time, Benjamin described how he prepared to play the part of Hendrix, whose look, movement, and voice are well-documented.

“He was pigeon-toed, so when I would walk every day I would walk pigeon-toed. I would walk to try to mimic that walk. Voice-wise I worked with a vocal coach and just worked every day to try to nail the sound. The director of the film wouldn’t let me talk in my regular voice on set, which was helpful because it made me make it a natural kind of thing. It actually took me a minute to get out of, when I came home that week or two after shooting the film. I had to kind of get back into my own way of talking, because I’d done it so much. I would use some of his slang.”

Benjamin had been considered for a biographical film about Hendrix for about 15 years and read several scripts. Jimi: All Is By My Side is the one that came together, with the involvement of 12 Years A Slave writer John Ridley. Benjamin told Entertainment Weekly that John had great enthusiasm for his participation in the film. Benjamin agreed despite questioning whether too many years had passed. He told EW that the delay turned out to be a positive thing for the film.

“If I had made the movie 15 years ago, it wouldn’t have been the same movie. I was young at the time, and I think I was just giddy about the sensationalized Hendrix. I was giddy about the wild man on stage. I was giddy about all the clips I had seen. But in doing this movie, I think it took a certain maturity, because Hendrix was a complex individual.”

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the film was shot in 2012 in Ireland. Benjamin is now 39. The film chronicles a pivotal period in Hendrix’s career during 1966 and 1967. Further prompting Benjamin as to whether he needed to be “older” to play Hendrix at 25, the actor clarified his comments to EW.

“I had to understand what part of Hendrix I wanted to play. I could have easily just done the whole wild man thing… You have to really figure out what you’re playing, and that’s why it took years for me to mature as an actor and as somebody studying a person.”

The Wrap reported today that the limited release of Jimi: All Is By My Side met with moderate box office success over the weekend. According to the film’s distributor, the release was targeted not only to larger markets, but smaller ones as well in order to determine where the film might do well. The film reportedly opened strong in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Washington.

[Andre Benjamin as Jimi Hendrix Image: Patrick Redmond / XLrator Media]