The years-in-the-making jazz biopic “Bolden!” is getting new life with the addition of two well-known names to its cast.
Ian McShane (“Deadwood,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”) and Nelsan Ellis (“True Blood,” “The Help”) have joined the cast of the locally filmed movie, entertainment trade Variety reports. The film tells the story of cornet player Buddy Bolden, a New Orleans musician regarded as the father of jazz.
The off-again, on-again production has filmed in Wilmington and is slated to return in the coming months. The film is listed as being in pre-production on the Wilmington Regional Film Commission website.
Variety reports Gary Carr, who appeared as a musician in the latest season of the PBS series “Downton Abbey,” has been cast as the lead in the film, replacing previous star Anthony Mackie.
According to Variety, McShane will portray Bolden’s nemesis, Judge Perry. Ellis will play an entrepreneur who manages Bolden’s band.
Slated to feature music by Wynton Marsalis, the film is directed and written by Dan Pritzker.
No stranger to the area, McShane has worked in Wilmington before, as the star of the British television series “Lovejoy,” which filmed scenes at locations including Bellamy Mansion in the early 1990s.
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