Spike Lee cast A$AP Rocky to star in his forthcoming film Highest 2 Lowest alongside Denzel Washington – and it was all thanks to a popular meme!
Appearing on Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast this week, the Brooklyn native explained how it happened.
“What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram, four or five years ago, and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son,” he said. “I seen those memes, and then in the film we used that.”
He also greatly complimented Rocky’s acting skills.
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“A$AP, man, he fire. I mean there’s some scenes with him and D where he’s not backing up.”
You can view the full episode below. The convo about Rocky happens just after the 47-minute mark.
Highest 2 Lowest is a “reinterpretation” of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 High and Low.
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The 1963 Japanese crime film was based on the Ed McBain novel King’s Ransom, which tells the story of a businessman’s ruin following a ransom payment to kidnappers.
This will be Denzel’s his fifth pairing with the director, though Spike told Deadline that Rocky has the “main role” in the film. It will also feature Ice Spice.
He also explained: “In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker. In our film Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo.”
The film, which hits theaters next month, will be distributed via a partnership between A24 and Apple Original Films.
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In other news, A$AP Rocky is continuing to build the hype of his long-awaited album Don’t Be Dumb with the release of a new song snippet.
Shared to his Instagram Story on Easter (April 20), Pretty Flacko fittingly donned a bunny costume while hanging outside with some actual bunnies in the minute-long clip.
“See you still with them steppers, tell them step it up/How you always come up short? You ain’t sell enough/If I pull my bitch out, I’ma dress her up/If I pull that [click-clack] out, I’ma mess it up,” he raps.
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Check out the clip here.
