Guess Who Almost Starred In The Classic Film "The Five Heartbeats"

Guess Who Almost Starred In The Classic Film ‘The Five Heartbeats’

Legendary director, screenwriter and actor Robert Towsend’s documentary “Making The Five Heartbeats” is streaming on UMC TV in which he reveals that well-known actress Niecy Nash and singer/songwriter R.Kelly both auditioned for the classic film.

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“Keenan Ivory Wayans and I rewrote that script like 30 times, and what you will see is Niecy Nash on line at the open call audition,” Townsend shared with Page Six. “She was just a baby. Now she’s a Hollywood icon. R. Kelly is on line to audition at the Regal Theatre in Chicago.”

Townsend says that R.Kelly wanted to be a songwriter for the film. “He comes to me and he’s like, ‘Mr. Townsend I’m trying to be a songwriter for the movie’ … He did play some music for me.”

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“Making The Five Heartbeats” follows the making of the movie in which co-writer Wayans was going to co-star, but Townsend felt that Leon Robinson was a better fit.

“I saw Leon in the Madonna video ‘Like A Prayer,’ playing the Jesus figure and when I met him I thought he had a cool vibe to him. I thought he would be perfect for the role.”