Woody McClain Reflects on Playing Bobby Brown (Exclusive)

Woody McClain may be a standout as Cane Tejada on Power Book II, but his fans will always love him for his portal of Bobby Brown. McClain, a former social media sensation, portrayed the original bad boy of R&B in two separate BET mini-series: The New Edition Story (2017) and The Bobby Brown Story (2018). The first chronicled the rise of one of the biggest boy bands in popular music, their fallouts, and ultimate restructuring. The latter picked up when Brown was kicked out of the group, his successful solo career, personal substance abuse issues, and relationship problems, and his foray back into the spotlight. 10 years later, the films are still in rotation. And the close-knit bond McClain and Brown shared during filming still stands.

“Bobby’s great. I only consider playing him once because it’s a continuation, but Bobby’s a great man. He feels like that uncle. He’s really, he’s such a lovable guy, man. When you meet him, you just feel that love oozing off of him,” he told us in a recent interview. “And I just got a chance to see New Edition in concert out here in New Jersey. Me, LaToya, Lovell, we all were able to go out there and see them perform and do their thing. And it was so amazing just to see all of the fellas on stage. They all were up there.”

He then reflected on the memories of working on The New Edition Story, noting: “And it just brought back memories. A lot of those memories flash through my head of us going to boot camp. And a lot of the guys didn’t know how to dance. And I was excited because I was the only guy that couldn’t sing. So I was like, yeah, when it’s time to dance, I was like, yeah, I’m in my element. But when it came to singing, I’m standing next to Luke James and Elijah Kelly, these are singers. I remember our first day on set, we were singing, and they were like, “All right, stop.” And they were like, “Bro, you got to hit the note.” I was like, “I’m hitting my note.” I’m like, “Y’all not hitting yours!” We will always have that kind of relationship.”

Expanding on his lack of singing ability in comparison to the others, he added: “And I’m down here. I’m on the bottom note. They were like, “All right, do it again.” They were like, “Just don’t say anything. We’ll handle it.” So it was like, we will always have that kind of relationship. And then when we’re filming and they’re missing the steps, I’m like, “Yo, we got to bring in some backup dancers or something to replace them.” So it was always fun, man. So Bobby’s always bringing up those kind of memories, and I love him for that.”

But just because McClain has been synonymous with Brown, it doesn’t mean he’s looking to reprise his role. Oscar-winning actor Ashton Sanders played Brown in the first-authorized Whitney Houston biopic, I Wanna Dance With Somebody. The film received mixed reviews. And many questioned why McClain was absent from the project. 

” I haven’t seen it yet. I haven’t seen it, I don’t know why people would be upset though [about Sanders’ portrayal]. That’s crazy. I appreciate the love,” he said. “I seen the trailer. The trailer was fire. The trailer was super, super dope. I just got to have time to sit down and really watch it. I’m excited though…We did that 10 years ago. That was fun, man. It was fun. It was like one of those lightning-in-the-bottle moments. Can’t recapture that moment again. So yeah, that chapter has been closed, and we’ve moved on. So I’m super excited about that, and I really want to explore other characters.”