One of Lincoln County’s Sheriff’s Department investigators recently had the opportunity to make an appearance on the big screen.

Master Sgt. Damian Gatlin appears in “Get on Up,” a movie directed by Tate Taylor chronicling the rise of James Brown in the music industry. Gatlin, who has been playing the trumpet for more than 20 years, is one of the members of the band in the movie.

Although Gatlin missed the deadline for the casting call, word of his musical talent caught the casting director’s ear. Gatlin was invited to try out and graciously accepted, and the rest is history.

Gatlin recalled one of his scenes he appears in occurs after the band grew tired of working with Brown.

“We were pretty fed up,” he said. “We pretty much just walked out on him.”

Gatlin said he was surprised at how repetitive the shooting seemed to be.

“We shot the same scene 50 times,” he said.

The directors explained they want as much film as possible because once they get back to the studio that is all they have to work with. The more they have to edit from, the better the scene will be.

Gatlin was pleased by the behavior of everyone on set.

“The people were just normal everyday people who were blessed to be in that position,” he said.

He was also surprised by Chadwick Boseman’s personality. Boseman, who plays James Brown, would shift back and forth from joking around to playing a serious role with ease.

Gatlin began playing the trumpet at McComb High School. He also played at Jackson State University and Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Gatlin says he chose the trumpet out of his own laziness.

“When I saw it had only three valves, I thought I wanted to play it,” he said, not knowing at the time that trumpet players make up the lack of keys solely with their lips.

Gatlin also likes that it’s a leading horn and cannot hide in the background.

“I’m not that way in my life,” he said. “That trumpet gets my voice out there. You can sit in the corner; you can sit in the back of the church; the trumpet’s going to bring you out.”

James Joseph Brown Jr., born May 3, 1933, is considered one of the founding fathers of funk music. Rolling Stone’s 2003 list of 500 greatest albums of all time includes Brown’s Live at the Apollo, In the Jungle Groove, Star Time and 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! 

“Get on Up” will hit theaters Friday, featuring Chadwick Boseman, Nelsan Ellis and Dan Aykroyd.