UPDATED 8/19, 10:25 a.m. ET: The real-like White Boy Rick is “honored” that Eminem is playing him, TMZ reports. Richard Wershe Jr. also tells the outlet that Em is ideal casting because he’s toyed with the idea of making a movie based on his life.
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Eminem is set to guest star in Starz’s forthcoming drama Black Mafia Family, or BMF.
TheWrap reports that the Detroit native will play the role of White Boy Rick in one episode of 50 Cent’s new show. “I’m honored and appreciative of my good friend Em for supporting my new show BMF,” Fif said in a statement. “We couldn’t do a show based in Detroit without incorporating the legend that is Eminem.”
Eminem hasn’t taken on many acting roles since the 2002 film 8 Mile. BMF is described by Starz as “a story about love, kinship, and capitalism in the pursuit of the American dream.”
White Boy Rick—or Rick Wershe Jr.—joined a gang in his early teens, for which he sold guns and drugs. He soon became an FBI informant, until the feds terminated the relationship when he was 17 and arrested him for cocaine possession. While he was hit with a life sentence, he was ultimately paroled and released in June 2020, when he was 50 years old.
Though he only played a small part in the gang, White Boy Rick became media fodder, including as the subject of a 2017 documentary and 2018 film starring Matthew McConaughey. But the real story behind Black Mafia Family lies with brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, who, after rising to prominence in late 1980s Detroit, formed one of the most powerful crime families in the U.S.
The role of Big Meech is being played by his actual son, Demetrius “Lil Meech” Flenory Jr. The cast is rounded out by Snoop Dogg, La La Anthony, Serayah, Da’Vinchi, Russell Hornsby, and Michole Briana White.
BMF premieres on Starz on Sept. 26.
