A$AP Rocky Makes Film Debut in Sundance-Bound ‘Dope’
A$AP Rocky will make his big-screen debut in the upcoming film Dope, a coming-of-age story about a young hip-hop fan growing up in Inglewood, California’s tough The Bottoms neighborhood. Dope is set to premiere this week at the Sundance Film Festival.
Entertainment Weekly reports that Rocky was helping his girlfriend Chanel Iman practice for her audition when he reached out to the filmmakers about taking on a role in Dope. Rocky was cast in a supporting part as Dom, one of the characters the main protagonist Malcolm meets along the way.
According to the film’s IMBb page, a handful of young rappers will appear in Dope including Tyga and Odd Future associates Vince Staples and Casey Veggies. The film will also star some music royalty with the addition of Lenny Kravitz’s daughter (and rocker in her own right) Zoë Kravitz and Sean Combs’ son Quincy Brown.
Rounding out the cast is Forest Whitaker, Tony Revolori (Zero in The Grand Budapest Hotel), former NBA player Rick Fox, Workaholics star Blake Anderson and actor Keith Stanfield, who will portray Snoop Dogg in the upcoming N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Check out Dope‘s trailer for a quick glance at Rocky in character.
Pharrell Williams, whose music has popped up in recent films like Despicable Me 2 (“Happy”), Paddington (“Shine” with Gwen Stefani) and the upcoming SpongeBob SquarePants movie (the N.E.R.D. reunion cut “Squeeze Me”), also penned four tracks for Dope, though those songs will be performed by the film’s fictional garage band.
“It was exhilarating to sit there in the studio with Pharrell as he composed this music,” Dope director Rick Famuyiwa told EW. “I’d tell him about Malcolm and then he’d disappear to his magic lair, or wherever he goes, and then he’d have a song about it and it’d be amazing. I think he was key in helping me figure out who these kids are in this world.”