Turns out Spike Lee is looking anywhere and everywhere for inspiration…including your memes. The auteur said during Carmelo Anthony’s Wave Original “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast that he cast rapper/musician A$AP Rocky in feature “Highest 2 Lowest” after people online drew a comparison between A$AP and Lee’s frequent collaborator Denzel Washington.
According to Lee, he thought of A$AP to then play Washington’s onscreen son in the reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.”
“What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram four or five years ago and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son,” Lee said. “I seen those memes and then in the film we used that.”
The first look of “Highest 2 Lowest” has lead actor A$AP in a prison jumpsuit. A$AP stars as Yung Felon, the lead character in the film, alongside Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, and Ice Spice. The plot details for Lee’s Cannes-bound “Highest 2 Lowest” remain under wraps; however, Lee previously told Deadline that Washington will play a music mogul.
A$AP, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, made his acting debut in 2015 coming-of-age film “Dope.” He went on to appear in “Zoolander 2” (2016) and in a short film with his romantic partner Rihanna. Now, the rapper is staking his claim in the indie-film game: A$AP stars in two A24 features out this year: Sundance hit “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest.”
“A$AP, man, he fire,” Lee teased of A$AP’s acting. “I mean, there’s some scenes where him and D head to head – he ain’t backing up. Like, ‘I’m here too.’ So very, very happy with the way the film turned out and looking forward to sharing it with the world.”
Lee reunites with longtime collaborator Washington for their fifth film together. The duo previously collaborated on “Inside Man,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Malcolm X,” and “He Got Game.”
“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.”
Lee previously shared that he screened “Highest 2 Lowest” for Martin Scorsese and wrote that Scorsese “gushed about Denzel’s magnificent acting,” adding that Scorsese was “so happy” for Lee.
“Highest 2 Lowest” is an Apple Original feature in partnership with A24, which plans to release the film theatrically before it streams on Apple TV+. Alan Fox wrote the screenplay for “Highest 2 Lowest” with director Lee, who will executive produce through his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks banner.
