As was first reported here at HipHopDX yesterday, the cast of the upcoming Notorious B.I.G. biopic, Notorious, has officially been chosen[click here for more details]. And yesterday the man cast to play Biggie’s best friend, Damion “D-Roc” Butler, spoke exclusively to DX regarding what will surely be the role of a lifetime.
Dennis White, also known as emcee Dennis Da Menace, who might be better known still as Jay-Z’s assassin in the “Roc Boys” video, will begin his portrayal of B.I.G.’s right hand man on March 24th, when the 6-week (4 weeks in NYC, 2 weeks in L.A.) shoot for Notorious begins. “Biggie’s one of my favorite rappers of all time,” says Dennis. “This movie is gonna really open up people’s eyes about Biggie. People know his music, but they don’t really know the man. And he was a great person.”
The San Bernardino born (Bay Area raised) White won the part over the previously reported recipient of the role, Jamie Hector, who portrays sociopathic drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield on HBO’s The Wire. Hector also narrated Life After Death: The Movie, a docu-DVD released by D-Roc last year.
And so while D-Roc appeared to already have handpicked Hector for the role, Dennis reached out to the casting director for the film via Myspace and was subsequently called in to audition for the part. “They pretty much already had someone they were looking at to play D-Roc,” admits Dennis. “But I came in and they loved me. The director came in, and he fell in love with my skills. And then the producers came in. I was exactly what they wanted.”
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Unfortunately, Dennis will likely have to base his portrayal of D-Roc on means other than observing Biggie’s friend since childhood in-person. “He’s in the federal pen, so it’s hard to get in contact with him,” he reminds. “It’s a lot of channels to go through, but the word on the street is he’s coming home pretty soon. So hopefully I get a chance to meet with him.”
And there may be other obstacles to Dennis being able to accurately portray D-Roc in addition to access to his character, including the lack of physical semblance between the two men. “D-Roc is 6’5” and I’m far from 6’5”,” Dennis notes. “I do have the same skin complexion though. But to be honest with you, my character is kind of a fusion of two characters, two people that influenced Biggie’slife. So it’s not so much [that I need to] look like D-Roc, it’s more about me exerting the energy of D-Roc. He has a very enigmatic personality. He’s funny. He’ll keep the jokes coming. But he’ll definitely knock a dude out in a minute. That’s what I have to portray, and that shouldn’t be a problem.”
Dennis is confident that his West Coast heritage will also not pose a problem in his portrayal of a BK native. “I was born in Cali, but I was supposed to live in Brooklyn,” says the current BK resident. “I’m a Brooklynite. My whole energy, my whole swagger is Brooklyn.”
Dennis’ California roots have benefited his acting before though, when he ironically played Tupac in The Seventh Son, a Washington, D.C. based theatre production in 2000, the first play about ‘Pac that was sanctioned by his estate.
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Dennis performed in plays as a child, and in early adulthood toured with “the whole chitlin circuit, momma, my grandmother’s sleeping with my cousin plays,” as he refers to the productions.
Around the same time he was honing his acting chops in the theatre, Dennis launched his music career under the emcee moniker Dennis Da Menace. And although he’s the son of Grammy nominated gospel music songwriter Becky White, Dennis chose to make secular music, a decision that proved wise when his single “Buster” rode the Billboard charts for several weeks.
Dennis’ 2001 indie debut album, The Wonderful World Of Dennis,sold over 60,000 copies [to listen click here], leading to an offer from Sony Music to release his sophomore album. “But unfortunately during my second project the head of the record label passed away,” Dennis explains. “And so that kinda halted things.”
While Dennis’ music career may have been forced to a temporary halt (he is currently working on a new album), his debut release ironically opened the door to a new career, as a TV host. “When I did my album I did like a DVD out in Miami that was kinda more of a hosting sorta thing,” Dennis explains. “And when I [moved] to New York the opportunities [to host] were there. When Direct Effect first popped off I was on the set and they asked me to intro and interview some people. So that kinda got a little buzz, and then Fuse TV had an audition and I became the only black host on there.”
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Subsequently Dennis hosted Weekend Vibe, replacing the show’s previous host, R&B songwriter/producer Bryce Wilson. But in recent years he has been fully focused on building his acting resume. Having landed his first role back in 1999 in the indie flick Swimming, Dennis has recently appeared in Chris Rock’s I Think I Love My Wife and in the critically acclaimed Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard led The Brave One.
Dennis will be back up on the big screen three times this year, most notably in Queen Of Media, the biopic about controversial radio host Wendy Williams. “I play a bad influence in there,” he reveals of his role. “I’m the one that kinda introduces her to payola.”
But it’s Dennis’ role in Notorious that he is clearly currently most excited about. “This is the type of movie for people who have Menace II Society and Scarface in their collection, they’re gonna have Notorious in there too,” he declares. “The movie is deep, it’s funny, but it’s gangsta. It’s just the perfect script. It’s gonna dispel all the rumors, the whole Lil Kim situation, the whole Faith situation, and people gonna really understand who D-Roc is.”
Movie goers will get to understand who D-Roc is and see Dennis White’s acting talents in January 2009 when Notorious hits theatres.
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