Jack Harlow has started 2022 strong. After landing a placement on his idol Kanye West’s album Donda 2, it was announced Thursday that the Kentucky rapper will make his acting debut in 20th Century’s reboot of Ron Shelton’s sports comedy White Men Can’t Jump.
According to Deadline, the 23-year-old was hired “after his first ever screen audition, immediately winning over the filmmakers and execs.” He’ll fill the role Woody Harrelson pioneered in the 1992 original, adding another bullet point to his increasingly impressive résumé.
Calmatic is set to direct the new White Men Can’t Jump screenplay penned by Kenya Barris and Doug Hall. Brooklyn Nets forward Blake Griffin will executive produce alongside Ryan Kalil and Noah Weinstein under their Mortal Media company. Calmatic will make his feature debut this year with his Jacob Latimore-starring reboot of another classic ’90s movie, House Party. The director’s other credits have primarily been in the world of music videos, shooting visuals including Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” and Pharrell and Jay-Z’s “Entrepreneur.”
Aside from being a rising star in the world of rap, Harlow’s charismatic personality and admiration for basketball make him a perfect fit for the leading role. He played in the 2022 NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game, and has also commentated for the rapper-centric basketball tournament series The Crew League alongside friend and comedian Druski.
On the music front, Harlow dropped his latest single “Nail Tech” a few weeks ago, marking his first release of the year. The track caught the attention of Kanye, who shared a screenshot of the music video and called Harlow “top 5 out right now” in a since-deleted post. A week later, the “What’s Poppin” rapper appeared alongside Ye during his Donda Experience Performance in Miami to perform their song “Louie Bag.”
