Cyrus Langhorne
Film director Benny Boom has the utmost confidence in Hollywood newcomer Demetrius Shipp holding down late rapper 2Pac’s legacy. The veteran filmmaker recently talked about casting Shipp in his upcoming All Eyez On Me biopic.
According to Boom, he felt the flick needed to go with an unknown actor to portray Pac.
“I feel like I definitely got the right actor to play Tupac,” he said of Hollywood newcomer Demetrius Shipp Jr. “It was important to get an unknown [actor] so people can lock into him and his performance versus any sort of baggage that another actor would bring,” Douglas revealed. “This role is just too important for hip-hop culture to mess it up.” (Page Six)
Barring any further delays, the highly-anticipated film will hit theaters on Pac’s birthday, June 16.
Back in September, Shipp talked about portraying the late music star and what fans should expect.
“It’s not even comparing that, because it’s 2Pac, and this is a global star and icon. This is one of the biggest biopics that will ever be done. Next to Michael Jackson, you know what I’m saying? As far as the people in the world that’s respected and loved when it comes to entertainment and as big as Pac, it’s Mike… 2Pac, Elvis or something like that?” (Complex)
He also discussed the difficulty in filming Pac’s death.
“The hardest scene was the death scene, shooting the first part of it. We waited until the end of it all, so we literally shot it at the very end. You’re coming to the end of it all, and you realize what’s really going on, the full spectrum. I engulfed myself in his life completely, and it was really emotional for me. It was like, wow, I’m really understanding his life and the turns of what happened that led him to being there that night.” (Complex)
