TYRESE TO PLAY TEDDY PENDERGRASS IN BIOPIC

Things are really starting to heat up in the biopic world. With upcoming bioflicks from Aretha Franklin, Mahalia Jackson, and the long-in-limbo films about Marvin Gaye and Nina Simone, it's been reported that singer/actor Tyrese Gibson has been tapped to play Teddy Pendergrass in a movie about the late singer's life. Tyrese in my opinion was an obvious choice since he sang the hell out of Teddy's songs when BET paid tribute to the R&B legend back in 2009. Tyrese paid tibute to Pendergrass for a second time when he appeared on Lopez Tonight last year singing Come Go With Me.



Tyrese, who started out as singer in a Coca-Cola commercial and released a few albums before his acting career took off bigger than his former gig also stated that he would like Lee Daniels (Precious) to direct the movie. As much as I couldn't stand that Precious movie, I think it would be a great idea for Lee to direct.

Says Tyrese about playing Teddy via Johnjohnsaidit.com:

Would you like to do a music biopic someday?

TG: Oh yeah, Teddy Pendergrass is in motion, and there’s one other project I can’t speak on that’s legendary – historic.

Marvin Gaye?

TG: I would do Teddy Pendergrass over Marvin. Teddy is dark skinned, has a full beard. Teddy doesn’t sing in falsetto, I don’t sing falsetto. I don’t have no high-pitched voice. That whole raspy, man’s man voice, I can do that.

Is there a real possibility of doing a Teddy biopic?

TG: I am playing Teddy Pendergrass.

Do you have a director in mind already?

TG: my dream director would be Lee Daniels, ’cause he’s from Philadelphia and he’s raw, knows how to tell the truth about characters and layers. He knows how to get people to go there. That would be my ideal situation. Lee Daniels would hit it out of the park. It’ll be my first time singing in a movie. I’ve actually stayed away from movie roles where they want me to be a producer and the studio telling the singer or rapper what to do in a vocal booth. Nope. That’s what I do for a living. I don’t want to do a movie doing it. But Teddy Pendergrass, that’s different. I was there. I was there during the last days of him being on this earth. He said to my steppops, he told me himself, “I don’t want nobody else in this world to do this movie but you.” at first it was an opportunity, now it’s a responsibility.