Toronto Rapper Gets Notorious?

The late, great rapper The Notorious B.I.G., from Toronto? Well, depending on the casting director from Fox Searchlight Pictures, that vision may just come true in the next few months.

As many of you are aware, the movie studio is holding open casting to find someone to fill the role of Biggie Smalls in the new biopic entitled Notorious, and has been soliciting auditions online as well as in special casting sessions in New York. This special New York Times video features interviews of some with the hopefuls that drove down to NYC in order to have their shot at fame, including one Jeffrey Kyei of Toronto, who is already one of the front-runners for the part.

Kyei may be a little small for the part, but his lyrical flow and swagger seem to hit the mark, according to a recent handicapping of the the hopefuls by New York Magazine's Vulture blog, who gives him the highest grade of all the would-be Biggies.

Kyei is a local musician and producer from Toronto who drove to New York with his manager in order for his shot to play B.I.G. in the upcoming biopic, and who chose to impress the casting director with his attitude rather than his physical resemblance.

We won't know if the movie version of Biggie will be from Toronto or not for another few months, but in the meantime, I found a bookie that's willing to put 15-2 odds on Kyei. Sounds like a pretty good bet to me.

(Photo: Biggie by Josh Gross.)