Believe it or not, we’re not that skeptical and we kind of think it’s lazy and deeply cynical to assume every little move that becomes covered in the media has an ulterior motive and or is a calculated publicity stunt. But we’re changing our tune on this one a little.
So you’ll remember the Notorious B.I.G. biopic – creatively titled “Notorious” – that finally found its lead actor after a long and exhaustive, nationwide search. Cast in the role of Biggie Smalls was Brooklyn rapper Gravy, aka Jamal Woolard, best known for being shot in the ass outside of Hot 97 in spring of 2006 (pictured as Biggie to the left in a new shot released today).
Nah Right reminds us that Gravy was rumored to be in line for the Biggie role nearly two years ago, which make us all think : what was the point of auditioning every overweight hustler under the sun? Maybe cause Gravy wasn’t quite right and they wanted to continue their search for the perfect match?
But in a piece that ran in the New York Times this morning (via Vulture), the director George Tillman Jr. (“Soul Food,” “Barbershop”) admitted that Gravy wasn’t part of the open casting cattle call in October and that the rapper had been “under consideration since November, and was quietly being groomed… before being officially selected.”
“We set up a boot camp for three months just for him,” Mr. Tillman told the Times adding that major musical performances in the film would generally use B.I.G.’s recorded voice (and Woolward rapping skills would be used where needed).
So what was the point of this rather large and media-heavy casting call news? Was it all just publicity stunt to drum up attention for the film that starts shooting next Monday (but apparently is still revising it’s script; way to go down straight to the wire)? Sure is looking that way.
Meanwhile, the official blog of “Notorious” producer Wayne Barrow (Biggie’s former manager) has launched with various updates on the film.
Cheo Hodari Coker, the author who penned the first draft of the film’s screenplay and authored the B.I.G. biography, Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G. , defended the choice of casting Woolward to skeptics.
“I think people should give Gravy a chance,” Coker told hiphop elements. “Nothing in Forest Whitaker’s previous body of work, as good as it was, prepared you to see him to embody Idi Amin. The same guy that hustled Paul Newman in “The Color of Money” was the same guy that played a Ugandan dictator.”
The same piece revealed that rapper Guerilla Black and R&B singer Sean Kingston were up for the roles of Christopher ‘BIG’ Wallace.
In very related and controversial news, a report from the L.A. Times is claiming that P.Diddy’s people put the hit on Tupac Shakur that launched the east/west coast rap rivalry and eventually took the lives of both Shakur and the Notorious BIG.
Now, newly discovered information, including interviews with people who were at the studio that night, lends credence to Shakur’s insistence that associates of rap impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs were behind the assault. Their alleged motives: to punish Shakur for disrespecting them and rejecting their business overtures and, not incidentally, to curry favor with Combs.
Diddy has already commented on today’s allegations: “This story is beyond ridiculous and completely false. Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself.”