Fox Searchlight is in the process of casting Notorious, a drama about the life and death of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. (AKA Biggie Smalls, AKA Christopher Wallace), a project which Biggie’s mother and former managers have been trying to get made for seven years. Having apparently exhausted Hollywood’s supply of obese African-American actors (”His looks, his stature, what he represented, the swagger, the sensibility of the man — all those elements are very difficult to find, no matter where you go,” says producer Wayne Barrow), they still can’t find a leading man. So starting this Sunday, the production will begin accepting audition tapes from the general public via BiggieCasting.com.
Two years ago, when the film was still set to be directed by Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua (it’s now in the hands of Soul Food’s George Tillman), Barrow said the producers were considering a number of known actors, including Anthony Anderson. But I guess he forgot about that, because by way of justifying the open call, Barrow told USA Today that “no one came to mind outside of Forest Whitaker who could capture that essence genuinely” — and, at 46, the Oscar-winning Whittaker is about 20 years too old for the role.
I think this is a tricky proposition. On the one hand, I see how it makes sense–there certainly couldn’t be a more cost-effective way to hold open auditions. But in the same USA Today story, Biggie’s mom, Violetta Wallace, makes it clear that they’re not looking for a Biggie “impersonation,” and in the current spoof-obsessed web climate, you have to assume that that’s exactly what they’re going to get. Can you imagine how many skinny white college dudes are going to read about this and take it as an open invitation to corrall a bunch of coeds into a hot tub for borderline-racist (and definitely sexist) “Big Poppa“-inspired video antics?
The real Biggie formed his persona at a cultural crossroads: born into a relatively stable home set amidst the crack-infested streets of Bed Stuy, he made a conscious decision to drift away from his private school life and immerse himself into what we on the West Coast would have called “thug life” (okay, not me–I was white, suburban and 12–but that’s what I learned from watching the MTV). If the producers are really looking for someone who gets the character and his background, who will give a deeply felt performance instead of an actorly-one, I doubt they’re going to find it by appealing to the YouTube generation. But I’m sure the audition tapes will be good for a laugh.
At least three SpoutBlog commenters will be happy to learn that Notorious screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker 
