Rocker Lenny Kravitz has signed on to play Motown R&B singer Marvin Gaye in a biopic to be shot next year, reports Yahoo News. For Kravitz, who recently as of late began an acting career to go along with his successful rock and roll one with appearances in films like The Hunger Games, it marks his first leading role. Kravitz’s publicist reportedly confirmed the news on Tuesday.

The untitled film is to be directed by Julien Temple, who his best known for helming pictures (the Sex Pistols’ The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle) and music videos (Duran Duran, Judas Priest, Sade, The Kinks, David Bowie) during the early 1980s. Not much is known on the proposed film, except the fact that it’s mainly going to focus on Gaye’s life and era during the 1980s when he was battling inner demons and stinging addictions and trying to walk the tightrope with that and his career, which was in need of a comeback.

The real Marvin Gaye died after being shot by his father during a heated argument in 1984.

It remains to be seen how all this will come to cinematic fruition. If the focus is mainly on Gaye as the person more than a musician, it will be most interesting to see how Kravitz plays those strings out in his performance.

[Source:Yahoo!]