Jamal "Gravy" Woolard as the Notorious B.I.G.
Photo: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Producers of the film "Notorious" have finally found the man to play one the greatest MCs ever to grace a vocal booth: Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace. Fellow Brooklyn rapper Jamal Woolard — better known on the mixtape circuit as Gravy — has landed the coveted role. While other entertainers such as Beanie Sigel, West Coast rapper Guerilla Black and even Sean Kingston had expressed interest in the part, the producers conducted an exhaustive search, auditioning thousands of men across the country.

(See for yourself how well Gravy fits the role in this photo gallery.)

"Finding B.I.G. was a task in itself, and I'm honored that so many young men came out to audition for the role," Voletta Wallace, Biggie's mother, said in a statement released Thursday (March 6). "However, it was Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile that won my heart. He is a talented and charismatic actor, and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to the big screen."

Derek Luke will play Sean "Diddy" Combs, while Anthony Mackie has been cast as Tupac Shakur. Angela Bassett is set to appear as Mrs. Wallace. Former 3LW member Naturi Naughton has also been given an as-yet-unspecified role in the film, which begins filming in New York this month with director George Tillman and is slated for release January 16, 2009.

Gravy has been a well-known figure on the mixtape circuit the past few years, working with a slew of rappers including Young Jeezy, Jadakiss, Fabolous, Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes and even Diddy himself. While Gravy is known for his wordplay, controversy has overshadowed his music.

In the spring of 2005, he made the big mistake of trying to record a song with his onetime close friend Foxy Brown and Miami's Jacki-O. The two women got into a physical altercation in a Miami studio.

"Everybody knows Gravy. Gravy's hard," the Brooklyn MC told MTV News after the incident (referring to himself in the third person). "I'm a lyricist. I go with the hardest. Jacki-O is the hardest. And I go with the other hardest from New York, Foxy Brown. Boy, did I find out putting the two hardest together. It's not a good look. Foxy was going a little crazy with it. It just got ugly."

In April 2006, Gravy was gaining momentum on the release of his long-delayed Warner Bros. debut, God Willing. He was outside New York radio station Hot 97, waiting to go inside and be interviewed, when gunfire erupted and he was shot in the buttocks. Although Gravy did eventually make his way inside to be interviewed by Flex, the station subsequently banned his music, citing his involvement in the shooting, effectively putting his career on hold. Neither his scheduled single nor his album, which was due in September of 2006, were released.

"What [was] I supposed to say? 'Flex, I can't do your show, even though it's my life — I just took a shot to the a--!' What does that sound like?" he said in an interview with MTV News in May of that year. "I had to do what I had to do. People are not seeing it that way. They're like, 'He's glorifying the shot.' N---a, I'm not glorifying the shot. I love my life more than rap. I'm not trying to take a shot for rap. I don't want to take no shot, brotha. Not in my thumb, my pinkie, nothing, brotha.

"Just imagine if I died. ... Would they play me then? They would play me because they would not want the world to assassinate their character. 'Here's a young man that was trying to do right and he got killed up there, and y'all not playing him?' "

In the wake of a violent outbreak between members of 50 Cent's and the Game's entourage that year, Hot 97 adopted a policy not to play any music by an artist involved in an altercation at the station.

"Notorious" Gravy's first attempt to break into Hollywood: He also auditioned for the lead in "Fat Albert."

Head here for a feature with Jay-Z, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Denzel Washington and many others talking about their favorite Notorious B.I.G. lyrics.

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

• Jamal "Gravy" Woolard, The Big Screen's Notorious B.I.G.

• Notorious B.I.G.
• Gravy

Gravy
Photo: Warner Bros.

Known on the mixtape circuit as Gravy, up-and-coming Brooklyn MC Jamal Woolard has had a rough start in the game.

At the end of April, he was shot outside of New York radio station Hot 97 while waiting to go upstairs and freestyle on the air. Several days later, Gravy heard that his music had been banned from the station.

Hot 97 DJ Funkmaster Flex made an announcement that the station has a new policy of not playing music by any artist who is involved in an altercation at the station.

"I feel like, damn. ... Y'all stopping [airplay] on my end? After Lil' Kim, Game, 50," Gravy said last week (see "50 Drops Game From G-Unit; Shots Fired At Radio Station"). "Why me? Because I'm new? I'm just getting ready to do my thing. Y'all should have stopped [the violence] and had [surveillance] cameras [in front of the station]."

Hot 97 refused to comment on the incident.

"I think [eventually] they gonna turn around and say, 'Man, we take that back. Gravy is a good guy. He's productive,' " the MC said. "I take [the ban] as they don't know me. They're just protecting their jobs."

Gravy said he respects Hot 97 so much that immediately after the shooting, he hid the fact that he was hit and appeared on Flex's show as scheduled for a freestyle and interview.

"What am I supposed to say? 'Flex, I can't do your show, even though it's my life. I just took a shot to the ass, I can't do it.' What does that sound like?" he said. "I had to do what I had to do. People are not seeing it that way. They're like, 'He's glorifying the shot.' N---a, I'm not glorifying the shot. I love my life more than rap. I'm not trying to take a shot for rap. I don't want to take no shot, brotha. Not in my thumb, my pinkie, nothing, brotha.

"Just imagine if I died. ... Would they play me then? They would play me because they would not want the world to assassinate their character. 'Here's a young man that was trying to do right and he got killed up there, and y'all not playing him?' "

It's not like Gravy was one of the most played artists on Hot 97 before the ban. He barely received any spins up to that point. However, the portly rapper said now was supposed to be his time. After years of building his buzz through mixtapes (he's released several with DJ Cutmaster C and has featured such guest stars as Diddy, Lil Wayne and the LOX) and street DVDs, his label, Warner Music, was finally ready to start focusing on him and his album, due in late August/ early September.

"God Willing — that's the name of the album," Gravy said. "I got a Jeezy record, a couple of treats. I don't want to put all the guests out there like that. But I got Mase, Diddy, I got some joints. What's so crazy, as I listen to the album, I predicted I was gonna get shot from all the hate I get on the streets."

Regardless of what happens in Gravy's rap career, he's already thinking of a second hustle: acting. If he gets his way, he'll be starring as the Notorious B.I.G. in an upcoming biopic.

"Look at me, let's be honest here," said Gravy, whose dark skin complexion and body build resembles the tall but husky Christopher Wallace. "I don't sound nothing like him, but people stop and look and be like, 'Look at his stomach! Look at this n---a. Damn!"

Gravy — who auditioned for the lead in "Fat Albert" a few years ago ("I thought it was going to be a real Fat Albert," he said. "Not comical. Real kids in the 'hood, in the junkyard in Brownsville") — said he's talked to the Wallace family and is a virtual lock for the role. A rep for Biggie's mom, Voletta Wallace, said although Gravy is cool with Big's camp, they have no idea who will play the part; they haven't even auditioned for the movie yet.

While Gravy's profile has risen in the past month due to his shooting, he insists the incident was not an elaborate publicity stunt. He said he's not going to rap about it or travel with security guards.

"I heard shots, I fell on the floor," he said. "I thought I tripped. I was like, 'How the hell [did] I trip?' I got hit, that's how I fell. [The bullet] spun me around. My adrenaline was pumping. After all that, I went to the doctors, and they said the bullet hit [me] so hard, it went straight through the back of my ass, out my thigh. ... Somebody was really trying to put a dent in me."

Gravy's shooting remains under investigation, and no suspects have been named.

• Gravy
• 50 Cent

Exclusive: Meet The Stars Of The B.I.G Biopic 'Notorious'

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• Notorious B.I.G.