Last July, we reported that a movie based on the life of Jimi Hendrix was moving forward with actor/musician Andre Benjamin aka (Andre 3000, also of Outkast) attached to play the legendary guitarist. And now almost a year later, under the title All Is By My Side, the movie is ready to start production. IFTN reports that All Is By My Side will begin principal photography in three weeks in and around the city of Dublin, Ireland, with Benjamin confirmed as the lead.
Instead of being an all-encompassing biopic, the movie will instead focus on the time period of 1966-1967, when Hendrix was first discovered and whisked away to England to record his debut album and also create some of the most memorable songs of that era. Directorial duties on All Is By My Side are being handled by John Ridley, who also wrote the script.
I absolutely love the casting choice; Benjamin is a decent actor (I may be one of the few to defend Semi-Pro) and his resemblance to Hendrix is uncanny, so the role is a perfect fit for him. And as a huge Hendrix fan growing up, I’m interested to see a movie based on his formative years as a musician. Covering his entire life would’ve been more preferable, but by providing a more narrow focus, hopefully it’ll allow All Is By My Side to really get into details and avoid skimming over certain events, a problem most biopics have (notably 2004’s Ray, which relegated moments of Ray Charles‘ life to text interludes). I’ll be keeping my eye on this project; it has a lot of potential and although I’d love for Benjamin to make more music, if this helps juice up his acting career a little, I have no problem with that.
Any interest in All Is By My Side? Is Benjamin a good choice to play Hendrix? If not, who would you suggest?