Marvin Gaye’s Son To Lenny Kravtiz: ‘Please Don’t Play My Dad’

Marvin Gaye’s son is apparently unsupportive of rocker Lenny Kravitz’ decision to portray his late father in an upcoming biopic.

According to Contact Music, Kravitz, 48, has signed up to star as the soul singer in the Julien Temple project, which is said to be focusing on the Gaye’s later life including his struggle with drug addiction and depression as well as his violent death in 1984 at the hands of his father.

The forthcoming film is currently going under the working title of Sexual Healing.

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

Gaye’s son — a childhood friend of Kravitz — added that he wanted to ”talk to [Lenny] about why he would do this” and doesn’t understand why such a longtime friend would have signed up to a project that would bring shame on the family name.

If the talk doesn’t work, however, the Gaye family are set to go down the legal route to halt production, but Marvin Jr. hopes that this won’t be necessary, saying:

“I would hope [Lenny] doesn’t have any idea that we are against this film being done.”

According to the Digital Spy, Temple’s forthcoming project isn’t the first attempt at a biographical film covering Marvin Gaye’s life. A previous biopic on the soul singer was announced in 2008 under The Italian Job’s F Gary Gray, but failed to emerge.