“He’s fire”— Spike Lee says A$AP Rocky is a standout as Denzel’s son in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’

Spike Lee is sharing why he cast A$AP Rocky as Denzel Washington's son in the upcoming Highest 2 Lowest.

During Carmelo Anthony’s Wave Original 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, he revealed that he cast the rapper-cum-musician after coming across a meme on Instagram, where people were drawing comparisons between the latter and Lee's longtime collaborator, Washington.

Lee said it struck him to cast A$AP as the veteran actor's onscreen son in the reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. And, according to Lee, the musician is a natural.

“ASAP, man, he fire,” Lee said. “I mean, there’s some scenes where him and [Denzel are] head to head, he ain’t backing up. Like, ‘I’m here too.’ So, I’m very, very happy with the way the film turned out and looking forward to sharing it with the world.”

Spike Lee's relationship with Denzel Washington is explored while A$AP Rocky gets ready to release two new movies this year:

Spike Lee and Denzel Washington are known for their notable collaborations, such as the 1990 film Mo'’ Better Blues, Malcolm X (1992), He Got Game (1998), and Inside Man (2006).

During his latest podcast appearance, Spike Lee reflected on what working with the actor is like, noting that "It’s a blessing… Time flies." The director, who acknowledged that he's working with "one of the greatest actors ever," expressed excitement for the upcoming movie.

“It’s fire,” Lee said about Highest 2 Lowest. “Denzel, in this film, he plays a music mogul known as having the best ears in the business and there’s a kidnapping… [it’s] action-packed, a nail biter, funny AF.”

He added,

“Denzel’s an actor — if I see something, I’m going to go up to him, but most of the time I’m not going to like Denzel, ‘da da da’ — plus he wouldn’t let me do that anyway,” Lee said. “The stuff we have to do is done in rehearsal where they read through the script and we have the individual rehearsals with the actors, that’s where we do the work. But once we’re on set, we’re going. That’s the important part and that we make sure that we’re both on the same page, and if we’re not, we work that shit out before.”

The film also stars Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, and Ilfenesh Hadera, though at the time of writing, more information about the plot remains unclear. The film is scheduled to debut at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, which Spike Lee regarded as an important date.

“I believe in numerology,” the director said. “That is very special to me because the world premiere of Do the Right Thing [was] May 19, 1989 in Cannes. And this May 19 will be Malcolm X’s birthday, too.”

In the first look at the film, A$AP can be seen sporting a prison jumpsuit. He stars as Yung Felon, the lead character in the film, while Lee previously told Deadline that Washington will embody the role of a music mogul.

Notably, this isn't the musician's first stint in acting. Legally known as Rakim Mayers, he made his acting debut back in 2015 with the coming-of-age film Dope, and by the following year, he appeared in Zoolander 2. This year alone, he is starring in two A24 features: Lee's Highest 2 Lowest and the Sundance hit, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

Spike Lee's upcoming film is an Apple Original feature produced in partnership with with A24. The film will roll out on the big screens before it makes its way to on Apple TV+.

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback