Andre 3000 has compared playing Jimi Hendrix in a forthcoming movie to “walking backwards.”
The Outkast frontman has been playing guitar right-handed all his life but when he was told he would have to learn to play left-handed for the role of Hendrix in Jimi: All Is By My Side, he says he almost quit.
The singer previously said making the film “saved” him, but now reveals how difficult it was to portray the iconic guitarist.
He tells Shortlist magazine: “It was very hard – it’s almost the same as walking backwards. The crazy part was when we first approached the film. We thought we were going to be able to shoot it right-handed, so I could have full confidence and full movement of knowing how to do it. We were going to try to flip the image.”
But when he discovered that wasn’t to be the case, Andre had doubts he would be able to continue in the roll as he didn’t want to upset Hendrix fans.
He continues: “I was kind of bummed about it – I didn’t know if I could pull it off. At one point during the meeting, I was not going to do it. I was going to say, ‘The movie’s not gonna work because I don’t want to fuck Hendrix up and make him look terrible.’”
But he persevered and says he’s happy with how the film tuned out.
He adds: “It’s just a different type of movie. I think there will be a lot of Hendrix movies made. We’ll see Hendrix with all the hits – the whole story. But we wanted to make a more human, more character-based film rather than just trying to recreate existing footage.”
The film, written and directed by John Ridley, has come under fire from those who were close to Hendrix as it contains violent scenes they insist never took place.
Jimi: All Is By My Side will be released in UK cinemas on October 24.
