Aldis Hodge, Neil Brown Jr. Added To N.W.A. Biopic As MC Ren And DJ YellaPosted by Wilson Morales
July 29, 2014
Universal Pictures has announced that Aldis Hodge has been cast as MC Ren and Neil Brown Jr. as DJ Yella in Straight Outta Compton, the upcoming biopic that chronicles the creation of gangster rap group N.W.A.
In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON tells the astonishing story of how these youngsters revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.
Starring O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Eazy-E, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON is directed by F. Gary Gray (Friday, Set It Off, The Italian Job).
The drama is produced by original N.W.A. members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, who are joined by fellow producers Matt Alvarez and Tomica Woods-Wright. Will Packer serves as executive producer of the film alongside Gray.
Best known for portraying Alec Hardison on the TNT series Leverage, Hodge most recently was seen in the Fox Searchlight feature The East, starring opposite Alexander Skarsgard. His additional feature credits include A Good Day To Die Hard with Bruce Willis, the Coen Brothers’ The Ladykillers, and the Academy Award-winning animated family film, Happy Feet. Hodge has also been cast as a series regular on the soon-to-be seen Amazon series, “The After,” and has a recurring role on AMC’s “Turn”. He has appeared on multiple television shows including “The Walking Dead,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” and “Friday Night Lights,” among others.
Brown Jr. has a recurring role as Clifford Danner on “Suits”. Among his film and TV credits are AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Columbia Pictures’ “Battle: Los Angeles” and Universal Pictures” “Fast and Furious”
