(1) John Malkovich was on director Mark Anthony Green’s shortlist to play Alfred Moretti. He also wanted to cast Nikki Giovanni; Green doggedly pursued the iconic poet before discovering she was unavailable due to failing health.  

(2) Invincible, Michael Jackson’s 2001 album primarily produced by Rodney Jerkins, influenced Moretti’s storyline. “Michael Jackson is a contemporary of Moretti [in the film],” says Green. “So I wanted to use that [Invincible] album—Michael Jackson going into a studio—and [replicate] that same challenge. Moretti made the best music of a certain era, and now he has to make something that feels like him, but it can’t sound like it’s from the '90s.”