The late 'Welcome to the Party' rapper plays a basketball rival of the title character (Taylor Takahashi) in the coming-of-age film by the 'Fresh Off the Boat' producer.
- Jan 20, 2021
AceShowbiz - Pop Smoke landed his first acting gig prior to his untimely passing in February 2020. Now, he's making his debut as an actor posthumously as the first trailer for the movie "Boogie" has arrived online for fans' viewing pleasure.
From Eddie Huang, whose 2013 autobiography inspired FOX's sitcom "Fresh Off the Boat", the upcoming film tells a coming-of-age story of an Asian young man, Alfred "Boogie" Chin (played by Taylor Takahashi), who struggles to defy the stereotypes and skepticism by his peers and his family's expectations to reach his dream to become a professional basketball player.
Smoke, whose real name was Bashar Barakah Jackson, appears in several scenes as he portrayed Monk, the basketball rival of main character. The tension between Boogie and Monk is so apparent when they get to meet face-to-face, both inside and outside the court.
The trailer also offers a glimpse of Boogie's romantic relationship. "No one believes in an Asian basketball player. It's a joke in this country. We can cook, clean, count real good but anything else we're picked last," Boogie says, while his girlfriend encourages him to fight for himself.
The official synopsis says the film is about "a basketball phenom living in Queens, New York, who dreams of one day playing in the NBA. While his parents pressure him to focus on earning a scholarship to an elite college, Boogie must find a way to navigate a new girlfriend, high school, on-court rivals and the burden of expectation."
"Boogie" marks a directorial debut for Huang, who also wrote the script. Taylour Paige, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Pamelyn Chee, Mike Moh, Dave East, Perry Yung and Alexa Mareka also star in the pic, which is scheduled to be released on March 5 by Focus Features.
Back in June 2020, Huang spoke about shooting the movie with Smoke. "A lot of actors just don't have the depth of emotion and experiences, but because of what Pop's gone through, he has a tremendous well to draw from, " Huang told The New York Times. "He gave me a thousand percent. They were tough 16-hour days, overnights, and he shot five overnights in a row. Kids were coming on the bridge to watch us shoot the scenes. We would play Pop's record. All our actors, the extras, the kids on the bridge watching us shoot scenes, everyone was doing the Woo dance. It was pretty special."
