While growing up in Alexandria, Virginia, Jaaleen Best had little knowledge of who Muhammad Ali was. But he remembers how others compared him to the legendary boxer.
“There were cousins and people like that who said, ‘Hey, you look like a young Muhammad Ali,’” Best said. “When I played a basketball game, there were people saying, ‘Man, you remind us of young Ali.’”
The 28-year-old actor has become a walking encyclopedia of the athlete, who is now arguably one of America’s most famous and beloved figures. More importantly, it become Ali.
Top stars as Ali in Prime Video’s “The Greatest,” premiering November 4. The eight-episode season differs from most projects focusing on Ali, tracing his coming of age as Cassius Clay before adopting the name that would define his conversion to Islam.
The series dramatizes Ali’s journey from his gold medal victory at the 1960 Rome Olympics to his first world title fight with Sonny Liston in 1964, to when he gave up using the name Clay as a “slave name.” Along the way, she would face victories as well as formidable challenges, such as racism in her community and conflicts in her family, including signs of domestic violence.
Jaalen Best in a scene from the movie “The Greatest,” which chronicles Muhammad Ali’s journey from Olympian in 1960 to his match with Sonny Liston in 1964.
(Brooke Palmer / Prime Minister)
The series’ executive producers include Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”) and Jay-Z’s Roc Nation production company. The cast includes Ali’s father, Cassius “Cash” Sr. Omari Hardwick (“Power”) as Malcolm X, Michael Ealy (“Think Like a Man”) as coach Angelo Dundee, and Giovanni Ribisi (“American Hostage”).
Best of all, she was smiling during a video call from her home in Hawaii, sitting in front of a wall with a Christmas wreath. (“One of my favorite times of the year is the holiday season. I start celebrating early here.”)
“I see this as a tremendous opportunity,” said Best, who had only a few professional acting credits before “The Greatest.” “I felt very prepared for this throughout the whole process.
“Since I didn’t really have perspective on Ali growing up, I felt like that, along with my athletic background, made me more perfect,” he added. “We are also telling a story that has never been told before.”
Ali’s widow, Lonnie, who is one of the executive producers of the project, said in a statement about Best: “We have unearthed an emotional gem in Jaalen Best. He is a multi-talented young man who not only represents Muhammad, but also reflects his resilience, courage, charisma and confidence.”
“The Greatest” is the latest in a voluminous series of books, documentaries and films created over the years about this extraordinary figure whose fame crossed sports, entertainment, political and religious lines. Most notable productions include the 1996 Oscar-winning documentary “When We Were Kings,” about the famous “Rumble in the Jungle” with George Foreman, and Michael Mann’s 2001 film “Ali,” featuring Will Smith’s Oscar-nominated performance as the boxer.
The new series also shares the same name with the biographical film “The Greatest”, in which the heavyweight champion plays himself. Robert Duvall and Ernest Borgnine starred in the 1977 feature film, which covered the same period as the series.
But creator and executive producer Ben Watkins (Prime Video’s “Cross”) said he doesn’t mind even revisiting well-cultivated territory.
“From my perspective, there can never be enough about Ali,” he said in a video interview. “I would say something needs to be done every two months. The challenge for people working in television is knowing what has been done and what we could do differently.”
“Yes, it was well hidden, but we didn’t see behind the scenes. We didn’t see what happens when the cameras aren’t rolling or the lights are off, so I decided to go for it. My pedestal hero was just a kid, just a human being. That was so refreshing and enlightening to me and made me admire him even more.”
Ali’s family on the series, from left to right: mother Odessa “Bird” Clay (Dana Gourrier), Cassius Clay (Best), brother Rudy Clay (Kai Parham) and father Cassius Clay Sr. (Omari Hardwick).
(Ian Watson / Prime Minister)
Watkins said Lonnie Ali proved to be a valuable resource because he knew Ali as a young man and was able to put the producers in touch with others who knew him.
He added: “We went through documentaries, movies, books. The important thing was to turn them into moments that you focus on, rather than looking back and skipping over those little moments. Then I can use that as a launching pad to tackle more well-known events.”
Even more challenging was finding the right actor to portray the legendary Ali. Casting director Kim Coleman, a casting consultant for the TV series “Ali,” researched community theaters and boxing gyms while also looking for more experienced actors.
“It was a really grueling process,” Watkins said. “We looked at thousands of candidates. Once I found that person, I would need them to be trained, sculpted, and transformed.”
Watkins said Best was an early standout: “I wanted someone who could bring Ali’s essence, charisma and confidence, along with an incredible work ethic and ambition.”
Showrunner Ben Watkins said Best stood out among the actors who tried out for the role: “I wanted someone who could bring Ali’s essence, charisma and confidence, along with an incredible work ethic and ambition.”
(Juan Veloz)
Although he has a background in competitive basketball, football and football, Best has never boxed before. However, he was given six months of training before shooting began. “Boxing was really challenging at first, but I came in ready to learn,” he said. “My coach would force me to think like an athlete instead of an actor.”
Still, the constant focus on authenticity during training sessions can be distressing, “It was just boxing for 12 hours a day,” Best said. “I had to memorize every punch and every move from Ali’s real fights. It was really long days. There was a physiotherapist on set.”
The main priority was to perfect Ali’s move in the ring.
“It would always bother me when I would see the actors playing Ali never get the mix-up right,” Best said. “Early on in the process, I really worked on this.”
Work was also intense outside the ring. “I really studied his voice. He had a spoken-word album called ‘I Am the Greatest’ in 1963. I would study and listen to that album for five hours a day. I would play it really loud, and it got to the point where I could read it without listening to it.”
Best was also determined to distinguish between public and private Ali. “There was a courage in his voice when he was outside, and a different voice when he was with his mother and father. In his private life, he was very different, very quiet. He cried a lot and had a very sensitive side. So it was like he was playing two different people.”
He also didn’t hesitate to dissect the performances of Ali’s other actors, especially Smith: “I would dissect every portrayal I could, whether it be a movie or a TV show. At the same time, I’m developing my own perspective as I do my own research and read books. So when I grasped Ali from Jaalen’s perspective, I discovered nuances that allowed me to bring a more human approach and ground Ali more.”
If the series is renewed, there are two other periods Watkins would like to explore: the “dark years,” when the boxer spoke out against the Vietnam War and was banned from boxing, and the period leading up to “Rumble in the Jungle.”
Best, meanwhile, is grateful for the experience of playing an icon: “It’s something I feel like I can carry with me forever.”