Dope was one of the big success stories at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and now it’s making its way to movie theaters around the country. Written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood, Brown Sugar and Our Family Wedding), it stars Shameik Moore as Malcolm, a straight-A student with a love for ‘90s hip hop and Game of Thrones. Basically, he’s a geek living in a rough neighborhood in Los Angeles hoping to get into a good college.
Malcolm’s life is turned upside down though after he attends a birthday party for local drug dealer named Dom (A$AP Rocky). Hoping that being there will make him look cool, it all goes haywire when a drug deal goes bad and the police shut down the festivities. Dom, however, manages to sneak a payload of trendy park drugs into Malcolm’s backpack, and from there Malcolm’s life turns into a crazy adventure as he learns some life lessons that cannot be taught in any school.
Last week in Los Angeles, I attended the press day for the film and while there I had the chance to speak with several members of the cast, including Rocky, Kiersey Clemons, Tony Revolori and Blake Anderson. During our exclusive interview, they discussed what they brought to this movie that wasn’t originally in the script, avoiding cliches, shooting in Inglewood and more.
Check out what they had to say in the video above and be sure to catch Dope as it’s now in theatres.