Exclusive: Biggie's Manager & Biographer Defend Biopic Casting,

The little-known rapper tapped to play the part of Biggie in the upcoming biopic Notorious has no screen credits to speak of. But those close to the project, including Big's former manager, Wayne Barrow, stand behind the choice of casting Brooklyn rapper Gravy as B.I.G.

"[Gravy] has some of the same sensibilities that relates to that swagger that Big had," said Barrow, who is also one of the film's producers. "It's that Brooklyn bullsh*t and we on it. He understood the nature of the man and what he represented. It was his drive, his passion for life, his lust for adventure."

Cheo Hodari Coker, the writer who penned the first draft of the flick's screenplay and authored Big's biography, Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of The Notorious B.I.G. also co-signed.

He says Jamal Woolard aka Gravy, best known for being shot outside New York radio station Hot 97 a couple years ago, has what it takes to pull off the part.

"The actor has to embody the physical presence and the vocal presence," Coker said. "You have to be believable as Biggie and have the sensitivity of Chris. Being able to only do a vocal impersonation of Big for five minutes is enough to get you through an 'SNL' skit, but not enough to get you through a movie. I think Gravy will succeed on all counts."

While Guerilla Black and Sean Kingston were both up for the part, Barrow said Gravy's relatively unknown status works in his favor. And he's not concerned about the rapper's lack of acting experience.

"Sometimes you have an individual who comes into a room and creates a presence," Barrow said. "You can make a star into a superstar but you can't make a star. Gravy has that. He has that in him."

Recognizing the importance of getting it right for a skeptical hip-hop audience, Coker says people should hold their criticism until they see the final product.

"I think people should give Gravy a chance," Coker said. "Nothing in Forest Whitaker's previous body of work, as good as it was, prepared you to see him to embody Idi Amin. The same guy that hustled Paul Newman in The Color of Money was the same guy that played a Ugandan dictator."

Other actors cast in the flick are Derek Luke who will play Puffy Combs, Angela Bassett as Voletta Wallace and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur.


hit the streets of Fulton Mall in Brooklyn, just blocks away from B.I.G.'s childhood home, to find out who the fans think should play the "Notorious" rapper. [Watch video below]

The movie will go into production later this month. It's scheduled to hit theaters in January of '09.