Conflicting reports have surfaced over whether or not The Wu-Tang Clan will play themselves in the forthcoming biopic of late rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Dirty White Boy. NME reports actor Michael K Williams – who is set to take on the lead role in Dirty White Boy – told the New York Daily News that the film’s producers “have no desire to cast any actors as the Wu-Tang”.
However, in a recent update to that story, representatives of Clan member GZA told Pitchfork he won’t be part of the film. “Spoke to GZA today. I will tell you 100% he is not appearing in the ODB / Jarred Weisfeld movie. I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but definitely not true about GZA”, the rep said.
Williams told MTV in another interview that Dirty White Boy is going to be a serious film – and won’t make light of the rapper’s life. “There’s going to be some comedy, but we’re not playing to that”, Williams said.
“It’s going to be shot as a straight piece, no buffoonery, for lack of a better word. It’s only going to cover the last two years of his life, when he was released from prison to the day he died. It’s just an insight into what he struggled with in the public eye.”
The film will be directed by Joaquin Baca-Asay, while Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy and Tod Hagopian will be producers.
