If you have the acting and rap skills to embody a young Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, or Eazy-E, you may get the chance to play the famous rappers in a new movie.
An open online casting call is being held for lead roles for "Straight Outta Compton," a new biopic that will chronicle the rise of the groundbreaking but controversial Compton, Cali. hip-hop group N.W.A. The film takes its title from N.W.A.'s breakthrough 1988 album.
F. Gary Gray ("Law Abiding Citizen," "The Italian Job," "The Negotiator"), who previously worked with N.W.A. founding member Ice Cube on the 1995 movie "Friday," will direct the film. Gray has also directed music videos for artists including R. Kelly, Babyface, Cypress Hill, and Cube. Cube is co-producing.
Gray tweeted on June 19 2012, "I'm casting for my next film STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON. Spread the word! Thanks!" He then tweeted an update on Feb. 21, 2014: "CASTING my new movie."
In 2012, the casting director was listed as being Kim Coleman, and the breakdown stated that the project was "seeking young African-American men, ages 18-25, to portray the members of N.W.A. Available roles include Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Yella, and MC Ren." Coleman is a casting director whose feature film credits include "Inside Man," "Madea's Witness Protection," "Beauty Shop," and more, such as the upcoming "We the Peeples" and Spike Lee's remake of "Old Boy." She also cast several episodes of "Everybody Hates Chris."
However, according to IMDb, as of 2014 the casting director is now Cindy Tolan.
For more information and to apply, check out Gray's tweet or view the full casting notice online at BackStage.com. Include a video audition as the character for which you'd like to be considered. The producers are accepting submissions from actors across the U.S. for this project. Production dates and locations have not been confirmed.
(Note: This article was originally posted June 25, 2012. The article was updated with new details on Feb. 25, 2014.)