Well this one’s probably going to break the internets. The only thing the hip crowd likes more than Wu Tang isThe Wire, and now the most beloved actor from The Wire is playing the most beloved member of Wu Tang in a biopic (okay, Ghostface is probably more beloved, but he’s not dead). Oh indeed, thank you, Jesus and Big Baby Jesus.
EW has learned exclusively that Michael K. Williams, 45, will star in an upcoming film about the legendary Wu-Tang Clan rapper and all-around troubled soul Russell Jones, a.k.a. Ol’ Dirty Bastard, whose impressive mic skills and outrageous showmanship were eclipsed by his erratic offstage behavior, assorted arrests, and an early death.
Joaquín Baca-Asay, the cinematographer on We Own the Night, Roger Dodgerand Jay-Z’s video for 99 Problems, is also joining the project, making his feature directorial debut.
The movie is based on the final years of ODB’s life — a true story that is nonetheless stranger than fiction.
Titled Dirty White Boy, the film focuses on the offbeat friendship between the Wu-Tang Clan co-founder and Jarred Weisfeld, a 22-year-old VH1 production assistant who through a lot of hustle (and the occasional lie) talked his way into becoming the rapper’s manager when Jones was serving a three-year stint in prison in the early 2000s.
Despite Weisfeld’s inexperience, and having a client whose talent was undermined by addiction and mental illness, the novice manager engineered an unlikely comeback — only to have it cut short by the star’s fatal drug overdose in 2004 at age 35. [EntertainmentWeekly]
Who do you think should play Old Dirty Weisfeld? Jonah Hill? Shia Labeouf? Gabourey Sidibe? Whatever the case, this seems like an amazing idea on paper, as pretty much anything that involves both Dirt McGirt and Omar Little would. But ODB was such a comedic genius (mostly unintentional, it seems, but intentional too) that I have a hard time imagining a hardcore dramatic actor like Williams (who, let’s be honest, is a little over-the-top in Boardwalk Empire) in a presumably-dramatic role (a biopic about a dead guy, how could it not be) being able to capture the true comedic absurdity of ODB. The last thing I want is someone trying to make sense of ODBisms, like “You gotta know how to blend in. Some girls don’t know they alphabets. Some girls do.”
Pretty much everything I know about ODB I learned from Danger Guerrero, but this whole clip is pretty amazing, especially the Drew Barrymore exchange.
MTV GUY: We got Drew Barrymore, you a fan of Drew Barrymore?
ODB: Who da f*ck is that?
MTV: She’s got a new movie coming out. Actress? She was in ET.
ODB: Is that the, the girl with the bald head?
MTV: The… the… the blonde girl, she was in ET. She was like this tall?
ODB: …I remember da nigga dat was riding a bike in the sky.
I just can’t imagine a recreation of that being able to do it justice.