In 2013, a Marvin Gaye biopic starring Jesse L. Martin was nearly complete. The project titled ‘Sexual Healing‘ was picked up by Focus Features International before coming to a complete halt due to location and scheduling issues.

The film was set to take place in the early 1980s during Gaye’s time in Belgium where he spent his life in the sleepy seaside town of Ostend. Facing drug problems and tax bills, Gaye was considered a spent force but, against the odds, he recorded Midnight Love, one of his greatest albums ever.

READ: Marvin Gaye’s Family Give Jamie Foxx Greenlight to Produce Series Based on His Life

Jesse L. Martin, best known as Joe West in the hit TV series Flash, bears a shocking resemblance to Gaye. The role of the late Motown legend was expected to go to Lenny Kravitz.

The film wouldn’t be a tradition Motown piece but instead focus on a time when the singer spent years in Europe trying to curb a dangerous drug addiction. According to TMZ, the singer’s son, Marvin Gaye III, spoke out against the script and convinced Kravitz to leave the production.

“The producers and directors of this film are very wrong and shameful … They’re trying to do a film about a low period in his life. They don’t even know the whole story,” Gaye III says

‘Straight Outta Compton’ director F. Gray Gray recently told TMZ that he’s not rushing to do another biopic but would love to do one about the late singer.

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