Hip-hop artist-turned-actor T.I., who appears in Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, is in talks to join Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name!, Netflix’s biopic of envelope-pushing comedian and film producer Rudy Ray Moore.
Murphy is starring as Moore in the production, which began last week with Craig Brewer directing. The call sheet already includes Wesley Snipes, Mike Epps, Craig Robinson, Tituss Burgess and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
Moore is sometimes called the Godfather of Rap from his reciting raunchy, sexually explicit rhymes in his comedy, often depicting pimps, prostitutes, players and hustlers, according to his obituary in the Los Angeles Times. (He died in 2008.) The son of a sharecropper, he broke through in 1970s Hollywood when his underground records became popular in black communities.
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He used the proceeds to produce and star in Dolemite, a notorious blaxploitation movie featuring a pimp with a harem of kung fu-fighting prostitutes. The film was an underground sensation.
In what is described as a flashy and funny role, T.I. would play a movie producer.
Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox are producing along with Murphy.
T.I. did scene-stealing work in the first Ant-Man as part of the heist crew surrounding the hero played by Paul Rudd; he reprises the role for the sequel that opens July 6. He is also starring in unscripted business competition show The Grand Hustle, which will air this summer on BET.
T.I. is repped by APA, Defient Management, Brian Sher of Category 5 Entertainment, Sloane Offer.
This post was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.