Spike Lee cast A$AP Rocky in his upcoming film Highest 2 Lowest after spotting a viral meme comparing the rapper to Denzel Washington.
Yep, a meme literally landed Rocky a major role. Lee revealed on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast that he saw the posts a few years ago and it sparked something. “I was looking at Instagram four or five years ago and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son,” Lee said. “I seen those memes and then in the film we used that.”
And it’s not just a fun cameo – A$AP Rocky is going head-to-head with Denzel in serious, dramatic scenes. Lee hyped up Rocky’s performance, saying, “A$AP, man, he fire. There’s some scenes where him and D [Washington] head to head – he ain’t backing up. Like: ‘I’m here too.’” He added that he’s really proud of the final cut and can’t wait for audiences to see it.
This isn’t Rocky’s first time on screen. He made his acting debut in the 2015 indie flick Dope, and most recently starred in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, which hit theaters in January. But Highest 2 Lowest is a whole new level – sharing screen time with an Oscar-winning legend in a Spike Lee film? Big deal.
The movie itself is a modern reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic High and Low. In the original, a businessman’s life unravels when his chauffeur’s son is mistakenly kidnapped. Lee’s version swaps the corporate world for the music industry. Denzel plays a powerful music mogul with a reputation for having the best ear in the business, and Rocky’s character gets caught up in a ransom plot that pushes both of them to the edge.
Lee is clear that this isn’t a straight remake. “This is not a remake, this is a reinterpretation,” he told Deadline. “In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker. In our film, Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label.” This film also marks the fifth collaboration between Spike and Denzel—they’ve previously teamed up for Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man.
Highest 2 Lowest is scheduled to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this May, and based on Lee’s comments, the energy between Rocky and Denzel is going to be one of the highlights.
