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Spike Lee revealed that ASAP Rocky will star as the leading role in his upcoming film, Highest 2 Lowest. The Harlem rapper will take the helm alongside a star-studded cast including Oscar winner Denzel Washington.
On a recent episode of Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM In Brooklyn podcast, Lee admitted that casting choices were made after seeing a meme comparing the Grammy-nominated artist to his co-star.
“What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram, four or five years ago, and people were saying that ASAP looked like he’s Denzel’s son. I seen those memes, and then in the film, we used that.”
Having your name in any conversation with a two-time Academy Award winner may seem like a lot of pressure. But as Spike notes in the interview, Rocky appeared up for the challenge after providing a stellar performance.
“And ASAP, man. Fire,” Spike Lee stated in praise. “I mean, there’s some scenes with him and D head to head, he ain’t backing up. It’s like, ‘I’m here, too!’ Very, very happy with the way the film turned out and looking forward to sharing with the world.”
Lee’s latest directorial outing is a “reinterpretation” of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 High and Low. The Japanese crime film was based on the Ed McBain novel King’s Ransom, which tells the story of a businessman’s ruin following a ransom payment to kidnappers.
In a previous interview, Lee explained: “In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker. In our film Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo.”
