A$AP Rocky has been praised by Spike Lee for how he acted opposite Denzel Washington.
In his first significant acting role, Rocky plays the son of Washington’s character in Lee’s newest movie Highest 2 Lowest.
Speaking on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Lee said: “Yeah, don’t sleep on A$AP. In this film, Denzel and A$AP go toe-to-toe. What’s interesting is, even before I got involved with this film, I always thought that A$AP looked like he could be Denzel’s son. There’s a big resemblance. So when you see it on the screen, it adds an element of father and son.”
He reiterated: “Don’t sleep on A$AP. I’ve done five films with Denzel, and a lot of times when he’s in a scene with somebody, they just get overwhelmed. He’s one of the greatest living actors today, but A$AP wasn’t having that. Toe-to-toe, I mean, they were going at it.”
Rocky previously revealed the type of music Washington likes to listen to while on set.
He said: “Denzel would pull up to the movie set playing Pooh Shiesty and Moneybagg Yo, swear to God. Can’t make this up.”
Rocky added: “He likes to listen to Memphis rappers, but modern Memphis rappers. Then he started quoting NLE Choppa. I’m like, ‘You know NLE Choppa?!’ He like, ‘I don’t do drive-bys now, walk ’em down.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, Denzel, chill!’ It was crazy, he’s really tapped in, man.”
Highest 2 Lowest is billed as a “reinterpretation” of Akira Kurosawa’s classic 1963 film High and Low.
The Japanese crime film was based on the Ed McBain novel King’s Ransom, which tells the story of a businessman’s ruin following a ransom payment to kidnappers.
Spike also said to Deadline: “In Kurosawa’s film, Toshiro Mifune is a shoemaker. In our film Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business. So, this is the fifth film with the dynamic duo.”
Rocky has previously acted in Hip Hop influenced comedy-drama Dope and is also set to be seen in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.
He has also made numerous cameos as himself in films such as Zoolander 2 and Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
