RZA Says Eddie Griffin The Favorite To Play Ol' Dirty Bastard In Upcoming Biopic

by Kevin Jagernauth
November 1, 2011 7:12 AM
2 Comments

Says Tracy Morgan Wants It Too

With the recent buzz about the gestating Tupac and N.W.A. biopics, we kind of forgot this was happening at all, but waaaaay back in 2009 Wu-Tang Clan member, actor, director, chess master and producer RZA first hinted that a biopic about the eccentric and amazing Ol' Dirty Bastard was being bandied about. "We have talked about [a biopic film]. His estate is pretty confused, like any estate is in our country. The estate is kind of confused on what to do, and all the rights and all that shit, but it’s definitely been talked about," he said. And it looks like that talk has developed into something substantial.

The folks over at XXL (via Shadow & Act) recently caught up with RZA, who had some pretty interesting updates about the project. First off, a script by rapper and ODB's cousin Raeshawn is done, and one actor has already signed a letter of intent, and it's a choice that's kind of surprising.

“[Raeshawn]'s been working on it for two years now,” RZA said. “[In fact] I think Eddie [Griffin]’s already signed on with a letter of Intent—I signed on, of course. So you know [Raeshawn] got my blessin’ to make it happen.”

Eddie Griffin? The "Malcolm & Eddie" star whose last film was the straight-to-video "Beethoven's Big Break"? Uh, ok. Not exactly who we pictured, but then again, it's hard enough to picture anybody trying to replicate the unique personality and style of ODB. But in confirming Griffin as the favorite for the role, RZA also mentioned one other choice that is actually pretty inspired. "Eddie Griffin is down” he said. “Me and Eddie talked about it, laughed about it. Tracy Morgan, he wanna do it [too]. I said ‘Ya’ll both kinda can do it.’”

Wait, so they can both do it now? Which one is it, RZA? Of course, if/when/who/how this gets made remains to be seen. Just like hip hop albums, hip hop biopics seem to get pushed back all the time, so who knows when this might happen. As for RZA, he's busy finishing up his kung fu flick "The Man With The Iron Fist," produced and co-written by Eli Roth and starring Russell Crowe, Lucy Liu and Pam Grier. That should be all kinds of bad ass.

More: Actors, Musicians, Tracy Morgan, RZA

2 Comments

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wray | November 2, 2011 3:16 AMReply

Griffin would kill in this role!
Russell Tyrone Jones | November 1, 2011 8:29 AMReply

It would be fascinating if both actors played him in the same movie, and if they did go that route, to go even futher and have several actors play him, "I'm Not There" style. They could even get a white actor or female actress to play him, seriously and not as a parody. I'd see that film.