A$AP Rocky nearly ventured to a galaxy far, far away.
The Grammy-nominated rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, revealed in a new interview with Variety that he auditioned to play the smooth-talking space smuggler Lando Calrissian in the 2018 movie Solo: A Star Wars Story. Unfortunately, he said, “My audition was trash. I was trash that day.”
The role of Lando ultimately went to fellow actor and hip-hop artist Donald Glover, a.k.a. Childish Gambino — and deservedly so, according to Rocky. “My man Childish Gambino was a way better Lando than I would’ve provided at that time,” he said. “And I think he looked a little more like [Billy Dee Williams] than me.”
That’s not to say Rocky has given up on his Star Wars dreams; asked if he’d do it again, he gave a resounding “hell, yeah.”
Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd.
Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian in ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’
Directed by Ron Howard, Solo tells the origin story of Han Solo (played by Alden Ehrenreich), who, along with pals Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and Lando, partakes in a heist on the mining planet of Kessel. It’s set about a decade before the events of A New Hope.
Though best known as a music artist, A$AP Rocky is no stranger to the screen, having starred in Rick Famuyiwa’s 2015 coming-of-age comedy Dope, opposite Shameik Moore and Zoe Kravitz, and in Anthony Mandler’s 2018 crime drama Monster, opposite John David Washington.
Rocky will next star alongside Washington’s father, Denzel Washington, in Spike Lee’s neo-noir thriller Highest 2 Lowest, a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Low. The elder Washington stars as a music mogul targeted with a ransom plot in New York City.
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Rocky plays Yung Felon, an aspiring rapper who will stop at nothing to be noticed by Washington’s music titan. Art imitated life for the performer, as he filmed the movie while his own felony assault trial loomed. (Having been charged with firing a gun at a former friend during a confrontation in Hollywood in 2021, Rocky was found not guilty earlier this year.)
“That’s why I was able to embody the character so well,” Rocky told Variety. “I was able to act like a piece of s— who was going away for a long time but didn’t realize the consequences, because in real life, I knew exactly what the consequences felt like.”
Highest 2 Lowest arrives in theaters Aug. 22.
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