Rappers And the Famous Roles They Should’ve Played
Last week, the world finally got a glimpse at OutKast's Andre 3000 in-character as Jimi Hendrix, in a still from the new biopic All Is By My Side. Even though 3 Stacks has always bared a close resemblance to the late Jimi, and this flick was essentially bound to happen, we can't wait to see what Andre does with it. Meanwhile, with such an influx of rappers getting into the movie industry, we'd love to see what some of our other favorite artists would do with certain roles, so in anticipation of By My Side, XXL pulled together 10 lead characters and replaced them with some of our favorite rappers. Click through our list to check out why Kanye would make a great Indiana Jones and why Action Bronson could be the next Luke Skywalker.
Tony Montana in Scarface - Rick Ross
Rozay has always bragged about his coke game affiliations, and he's from Miami, so casting him as the modern day Tony Montana would only be right. Though he's a little bigger than the original Tony, we're sure the costume designers could find some throwback 3-piece suits for Ross.
Tony Starks in Iron Man - Ghostface Killah
Ghost has always rapped about his Tony Starks alter-ego, and has even released albums that celebrate the moniker with Ironman and The Pretty Toney Album. So while Ghost would make the ideal Iron Man, co-star Gwyneth might need to get replaced…
Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way - Fabolous
Fab has always had an obsession with Carlito's Way, even releasing a series of albums directly influenced by the film, with Loso's Way and Loso's Way 2. We're sure he knows more than anybody about the 1993 crime classic.
Michael Corleone in The Godfather - Nas
Al Pacino's Michael Corleone was a pensive and thoughtful young dude who was wise beyond his years, much like Nas, who released his game-changing debut Illmatic before he turned 20. Nas would play Michael understated and collected, just like he should be.
Rocky Balboa in Rocky - 50 Cent
Sylvester Stallone wrote the Rocky character for himself in an effort to force his way into the movie industry, and 50 did the same with his epic mixtape run in the early 2000s. 50 is also a very buff dude, much like Balboa, and he's been known to be a fan of boxing.
Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing - Chris Brown
This one's a no-brainer. Chris Brown is the modern-day Johnny Castle, only with more tattoos.
Neo in The Matrix - Lupe Fiasco
Lupe's always had a strange infatuation with sci-fi and looking beyond society's surface, so he'd be the right fit for The Matrix's prodigal son Neo. Also, if Lupe still has this black jacket from his The Cool days, he can even dress himself.
Tyler Durden in Fight Club - Eminem
Em's been known to have some personality issues - or at least he's been known to rap about them - so he'd be perfect for the real-or-imagined Tyler Durden. Em is also a bit of a fighter, and has even released a song called "Fight Music."
Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones - Kanye West
Kanye has never been vocal about being the heroic type, but in this still from his "Monster" video, his resemblance to Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones is uncanny.
Frank Lucas in American Gangster - Jay Z
Jay was so moved by this movie that he released an entire album (also called American Gangster) that drew inspiration from it. When Jay throws on that suit, he's a shoe-in for Frank; he's also supposedly got that drug-dealing background, which would inform his acting.
Luke Skywalker in Star Wars - Action Bronson
About a month ago, Action Bronson took on an unruly fan at a show in Boston and body-slammed him onstage. Dude's clearly got a lot of love for kung fu and hand-to-hand combat, and he's also got those lady-killing looks to pull a Princess Leia with ease.