Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Notorious

I first heard about the plans for this movie after hearing about the open casting calls in which an unknown, Jamal "Gravy" Woolard, impressed the panel.

"More than 100 Biggie wannabes, many of them non pros and all with the requisite size, turned out to show off their rapping and impersonation skills. Woolard, who also is known as Gravy, is not a total unknown. He has released a number of albums, though he's perhaps best known for being shot before a radio appearance outside the New York hip-hop station Hot 97 two years ago, after which he proceeded with the interview and became a part of hip-hop lore. Like Biggie, Woolard was a drug dealer before he became a rapper. He had released a number of albums on indie labels in the 1990s before being signed by Warner Bros.The movie directed George Tillman Jr. goes into production this month and will be released theatrically in January 2009. Voletta Wallace cited "Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile" as reasons for the casting. "He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to life," she said." - Source Magazine

The movie looks half decent. It will be interesting to see how it parallels the real life of Biggie Smalls. It is however a shame that they couldn't convince Diddy to play himself. Check out Woolard's myspace here.