USA Network has found its Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
Marcc Rose and Wavyy Jonez have been cast as the iconic rappers, respectively, in the drama pilot about their unsolved murders, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Unsolved: The Murders of Biggie and Tupac (working title) is a scripted true crime serial that chronicles the two major police investigations into the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls.
Rose will play Shakur, a poet, actor and rapper who was as brilliant as he was self-destructive. He was shot and killed in Las Vegas in 1996, and his murder still remains unsolved today. The actor reprises his role from the 2015 hit film Straight Outta Compton, in which he made his acting debut. He is repped by ICM.
The pilot marks the first acting role for Jonez, who was discovered after a nationwide casting call. Biggie Smalls, aka Christopher Wallace, quickly went from honor student to drug dealer to the face of East Coast rap. He was shot and killed in Los Angeles just six months after Shakur, and his death also remains unsolved. Also a rapper, Jonez is repped by First Access Entertainment.
The two join previously cast actors Jimmi Simpson, Bokeem Woodbine and Josh Duhamel, all three of whom will play police employees integral to the unsolved cases.
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Anthony Hemingway (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story) is set to direct and will executive produce along with Mark Taylor through their Hemingway | Taylor production company. Kyle Long (Suits) is writing the pilot and will also executive produce. The drama is based on the experiences of former LAPD Detective Greg Kading, who is consulting on the pilot script and will also serve as co-executive producer. Kading led multiple law-enforcement task forces investigating the murders and authored the book Murder Rap: The Untold Story of Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations.
Universal Cable Productions will produce the hourlong drama.
The two aren’t the first to play the well-known musicians. Anthony Mackie played Shakur in the 2015 Biggie Smalls biopic Notorious, in which Jamal Woolard played the lead role. Demetrius Shipp Jr. is next to set to play Shakur in the 2017 biopic All Eyez on Me.
