Straight Outta Compton, the NWA biopic, has been in development for at least five years, and we first posted a rumor that Dr. Dre and Ice Cube wanted to cast their sons in it more than two years ago. But it sounds a lot closer to actually happening now, and The Wrap reports that O’Shea Jackson Jr., aka Ice Cube Jr., will play his father in the film, which is currently set up at Universal with F. Gary Gray (The Italian Job) directing.
Gray (“The Italian Job”) is directing from a script by Jonathan Herman, which Ice Cube has previously described as a comprehensive “dramatic story that encompasses hip-hop, dope-dealing, Reaganomics, AIDS, LAPD, rap feuds, FBI, PMRC, the Parental Advisory stickers on the records… all of it.”
Ice Cube revealed in February that he was pushing for his son to play him in “Compton,” telling The Guardian ”I’ve been trying to get that pushed along. Just wanna make sure that he’s the best man for the job.”
Eazy-E’s son has also been lobbying for a role but TheWrap hears that an unknown actor is poised to win the part, and that Universal could announce the main cast before the end of the week. It would mark the end of a long search, as casting director Cindy Tolan held an open casting call in Gardena, Calif. in March seeking appropriately-aged African-American males, with no experience necessary.
Every time I think about a rapper turned actor pushing his son into acting, I think about Jaden Smith in his dumb white Batman suit spouting about how If Newborn Babies Could Speak They Would Be The Most Intelligent Beings On Planet Earth. I don’t know much about Ice Cube Jr., but he doesn’t have nearly as obnoxious a face, and those two facts already put him way ahead of Jaden Smith. Also, is it weird that naming your son after his father seems way less sociopathic than naming the boy after his mom Jada and the girl after her dad Will?
Sorry, I get off on Will Smith tirades sometimes. In any case, I’d like to see the Oedipal version of this where O’Shea Jackson Jr.’s mom plays herself, directed by Lars Von Trier.