Is there anything Diplo can’t do? The 38-year-old producer, real name Wesley Pentz, has established himself as one of the hottest acts in dance music, releasing hits as a solo act, with Skrillex as half of Jack Ü, and with his dancehall trio Major Lazer. While the success of his music career speaks for itself, it looks like the producer is ready to immortalize it on celluloid as he announces his upcoming show What Would Diplo Do? for Viceland.
The unlikely show will star an even more unlikely James Van Der Beek as Diplo, who rose to prominence for his titular role on Dawson’s Creek. Viceland has ordered six episodes of the show to start, which will serve as a comedic exposé into the life of the world class DJ.
Diplo and Van Der Beek will serve as executive producers alongside Kevin Ksatsu, while Oscar winner and Viceland co-president Spike Jonze will offer up creative input on the series as well. In a quote, Van Der Beek explained his role on the show and explained his comedic approach to playing Diplo.
I’ve enjoyed deconstructing my own image quite a bit over the years, but to have the chance to do it with a global megastar like Diplo who’s letting us to do something fun and ridiculous that few people have the balls to allow is crazy. The show doesn’t take itself too serious, but it’s not cynical.
The idea behind What Would Diplo Do? stems from a Mad Decent promo video from last summer that gave us our first taste of James Van Der Beek’s version of Diplo. Judging from that alone, the show should be a hilarious success.