Producer reflects on 'Ray'

The film became an inspirational piece, he says.
By MILAN PAURICH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
CLEVELAND -- Hollywood producer Stuart Benjamin was here recently for an advance screening of "Ray," his new Ray Charles biopic, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. During Benjamin's visit, he sat down for an interview to discuss the genesis of the project, and what the film means to him personally.
Q. Why did you decide to make a film about Ray Charles -- and why now?
A. Because of the historical significance of Ray's music. It spans so many genres -- gospel, country-western, jazz, pop, soul, rhythm and blues, rock 'n' roll -- the whole gamut, really. Ray had such an amazing impact musically on the last half of the 20th century, and lived such an incredible life. That's a great story, and a uniquely American one as well. The idea to make the movie first came to Taylor (Hackford, "Ray"'s director) after we produced "La Bamba" together, but it was a difficult project to get started and we kept running into brick walls. There was an ingrained studio bias against films with African-American subjects, strictly for economic reasons. During all those years, Ray kept saying, "You've got to have patience. Everything happens in its own time," and he was right. The right pieces finally did fall into place. If we had made this at any other point in time, we wouldn't have had Jamie Foxx.
Q. Whose idea was it to cast Jamie? Were there any concerns about whether he could carry a dramatic lead?
A. No, I don't think we ever had any concerns about Jamie. Taylor and I were both very impressed by his work opposite Al Pacino in "Any Given Sunday," and especially his performance as Bundini Brown in "Ali." That was a small role, but he was really, really good in it. Al, who Taylor had worked with on "The Devil's Advocate," was very high on Jamie, as was "Ali" director Michael Mann. Jamie worked his tail off on this movie. Neither Taylor nor I knew going in that Jamie was a trained musician, but that's something we learned very quickly.
When Jamie first met Ray, they played music together and Ray really embraced him for the role, which was very gratifying. We showed Ray a rough cut of the film last December -- describing the scenes to him as they were playing -- and he was very impressed with Jamie's performance. Ray's children and Quincy Jones have all said that Jamie truly embodies the essence of Ray, so however he did it, it clearly worked.
Q. This is a real "warts-and-all" biopic. Was there anything from his life that Ray didn't want covered?
A. Ray wanted people to see how he became the man he was -- that he didn't wake up one morning as this "genius musician" -- so it was important that the film be as honest about his personal demons as possible. And by portraying his life so candidly, it really did become an inspirational piece.
Q. There are 10 producers on this film. What specifically were your responsibilities?
A. In Hollywood, there tends to be a lot of credits for lots of different things (laughs). For all intents and purposes, though, this was my baby. I carried it on my back for 15 years, brought in the writer (James L. White), shepherded the whole project through the development process, and was the on-set producer.
Q. Even at 21/2 hours, I kept thinking that there was probably a lot more "Ray" that we didn't get to see. How long will the "Director's Cut" DVD run?
A. You always wrestle with time vs. pace on a movie, and inevitably choices have to be made. Several performances were shortened -- the longer versions will be on the DVD -- and a couple, like a great rendition of "Let the Good Times Roll," were cut altogether. Universal is bracketing those extra scenes in such a way that you'll be able to play the movie as it was seen in theaters, or play it with the new additions. There's also going to be footage of Jamie and Ray performing together, which is truly awesome stuff.