A$AP Rocky, who in most people’s eyes is a page-topping rapper and a pop culture trendsetter, now found himself in a different sort of classroom and his teacher? None other than the legendary actor Jeffrey Wright. As the cameras rolled and the stakes remained high, Wright became Rocky’s acting coach on the sly, coaching him between takes and turning their trailer into an impromptu acting studio.
“During Highest 2 Lowest, he coached me,” Rocky told Variety in an interview. “I would do something, and he’d be like, ‘Nah, man, you got to do it like this,’ and ‘Say your line like that.”
Wright turned up in full-on mentor mode, sharing knowledge from his experiences, recommending books, and giving Rocky a crash course in classic cinema. It’s not like Rocky wanted to nail a scene but wanted to know what acting was all about.
“He would put me on to what books to read and direct me to the old-school s**t he used to be in. “He just an O.G., like true O.G. like that,” Rocky said, evidently thankful for the pointers.
The movie, a contemporary English-language update of Kurosawa’s High and Low, debuted this week at Cannes, further fleshing out Rocky’s budding filmography. But as he accrues roles, Rocky is still upfront about what he has yet to learn.
And what is the single biggest takeaway from his time with Wright? If you want to rise as an actor, take the stage.
“To be a better actor, stage is the only way to become better at that; value: “One of the best, wisest men I know explained to me, Mr. Jeffrey Wright,” Rocky confessed. “I don’t think I’m ready. I gotta be in one place, and that’s a lot of commitment .”
Yet his eagerness to learn from icons as distinguished as Wright and, yes, Denzel Washington says it all. Because of Denzel, Rocky always felt like he had to maintain his cool whenever the two shared the screen together. And he will be the first to tell you that it hasn’t been easy.
“Trust me, it was hard to not fan the f### out every (frickin’) second of the f###### time. It was crazy it’s f###### Denzel, man,” Rocky said, his awe fresh in his voice. “I’m never going to be too big that I can’t say I had to hold my composure from not fanning out.” Under Wright’s tutelage and seeing Washington’s genius at close range, Rocky’s transformation from music mogul to dramatic actor is finally happening in a genuinely compelling way.
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