Brooklyn stand up!
According to Entertainment Weekly, "Boardwalk Empire" star Michael K. Williams is set to play fellow New Yorker Ol' Dirty Bastard in the biopic "Dirty White Boy."
Born Russell Jones, Dirty rose to fame as a rapper and co-founder of the legendary Wu-Tang Clan. Sadly, the rapper's career was cut short in 2004, when he passed away from a drug overdose.
"Dirty White Boy" follows Dirty during the final years of his life. The film centers around the friendship he struck up with 22-year-old VH1 production assistant Jarred Weisfeld, who went on to become the rapper's manager.
"We both knew full well who Ol' Dirty Bastard was but this story completely floored us. As filmmakers, we knew that this would make a great film and that Jarred Weisfeld would offer an actor a complicated and compelling character to play," said producers Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy ("Beginners") in a press release. "This felt to us like 'Risky Business' and '8 Mile,' with equal elements of darkness, humor, and humanity."
Williams is already known for portraying another offbeat character: Omar, the shotgun-toting robber on "The Wire," so, he may be the perfect choice to play the late Wu-Tang member.
"Dirty White Boy" will be directed by first-timer Joaquín Baca-Asay. There is currently no release date.
[via EW]