Who played the lead role of James Brown in the film "Get on Up"?

"Get on Up" is a 2014 American biographical musical drama film about the life of singer James Brown and directed by Tate Taylor and written by Jez and John-Henry Butterworth. The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Chadwick Boseman as Brown, Nelsan Ellis as Bobby Byrd, Dan Aykroyd as Ben Bart, Viola Davis as Susie Brown, Craig Robinson as Maceo Parker and Octavia Spencer as Aunt Honey. The film was released on August 1, 2014.

Chadwick Aaron Boseman (November 29, 1976 – August 28, 2020) was an American actor and producer. He has portrayed several real-life historical figures, such as Jackie Robinson in "42" (2013), James Brown in "Get on Up" (2014), and Thurgood Marshall in "Marshall" (2017). He has also played the superhero Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, including "Black Panther" (2018), for which he won a NAACP Image Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, "Captain America: Civil War" (2016), "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018), and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

Boseman died at his home of complications related to colon cancer on August 28, 2020, with his wife and family by his side.