Posted by CANNES, FRANCE – Freddie Gibbs is heading overseas. Gangsta Gibbs’ acting debut in Down With the King is set to premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in France later this year. According to WhoIsTheBuzz, the film will appear in the ACID (Association for Independent Cinema and its Distribution) section.
Gibbs has had Hollywood dreams for some time, but made sure to wait until the time was right instead of shooting or starring in his own “bootleg ass looking ass rap movies.”
The Gary, Indiana native is proving age ain’t nothing but a number since he’ll compete in Cannes and was Grammy-nominated for HipHopDX 2020 Album of the Year Alfredo in the same year.
“Premiering at Cannes shows that Freddie’s introduction into film as an artist to an actor isn’t going to be the traditional transition,” Gibbs’ manager Ben “Lambo” Lambert tells HipHopDX. We’ve always know this day would come, but we’ve wanted to make sure it was done right. Just as we approach music, we pride ourselves on the tasteful over the obvious.”
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The movie is written and directed by Diego Ongaro, who looks to blend the unlikely worlds of rap and farming. Freddie Gibbs plays the role of rapper Money Merc — real name Mercury Maxwell — who heads to a house in the Berkshires, Massachusetts to record his next album. Searching for new inspiration, Merc’s turns his attention to farming thanks to a friendship with his neighbor.
“Freddie Gibbs and I worked intimately together to craft Mercury’s character and backstory; some of it pulled from Freddie’s experiences and values, much of it invented,” Ongaro told Complex. “It was an absolute thrill working with someone as sharp and multi-talented as Freddie in this collaborative way.”
Freddie Gibbs To Star As Rapper-Turned-Farmer In Feature Film Debut ‘Down With The King’
Gibbs has been studying his favorite actor Samuel L. Jackson in preparation for his role.
“I really been studying cats like Samuel L. Jackson that’s my favorite actor of all time, period,” he said. “So I just been looking at some stuff and tryna figure my way out and some things I wanna do and like I said, really studying and writing and starting to get a vibe for it.”
The Grammy-nominated rapper will be starring alongside Jamie Neumann, David Krumholtz, Sharon Washington and Bob Tarasuk.