Chadwick Boseman refused to play James Brown.
 Co-star Dan Aykroyd, who had known Brown, praised Boseman's performance, saying that it was neither replication nor impression and that he "did not have to squint sitting across from [Boseman] to imagine that [he] was talking to [Brown]"
 Eulogizing him, Rose wrote:Chadwick Boseman began his career playing African American icons and pioneers; he ends it as one himself

