Sometimes, we think we’ve heard it all. Could this world of pop culture and entertainment possibly get any more bizarre? Then we hear about Kanye West pitching an idea toDanny McBrideto have the actor play him in a biopic, and it’s clear that things can get a whole lot crazier. What are the odds of this happening? Slim to none, but it was discussed.
The reveal was made by Danny McBride during a recent interview onJimmy Kimmel Live. During the chat, theEastbound and DownandPineapple Expressstar, who was there to promote his new series,The Righteous Gemstones, made the reveal thatKanye Westreached out to him with this, shall we say unique idea. Here’s what McBride had to say about it.
“He had an idea for a project that I think was a pretty brilliant idea. He wanted to do a movie about the story of his life and he wanted me to play him… I thought it was a cool enough idea that I was like, ‘Yeah, I would love to hang out and talk about it,’ So, he came down there. We hung out. We went out on a boat. We just talked. He was awesome. It was the most incredible afternoon.”
Following that, they, according to Danny McBride, just sat in his house and watched his son playFortnite. As for how far this project got? It sounds like it was just a conversation, but still, the fact that this happened at all is, to say the least, surprising. What would this even be? Would it be a deeply comedic take on Kanye’s life? Would they play it totally straight and just have McBride try and emulate Kanye? It’s all a little tough to get one’s head around. Earlier in the interview, McBride explained that West paid a special visit to South Carolina to see him.
“I had a pretty interesting guest shortly after we moved there. One day I got a phone call out of nowhere and the voice sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure who it was. I was like, ‘Hello?’ and he was like, ‘Hey, is Danny there?’ He was like, ‘This is Kanye West.’ I thought it was a joke. He basically said that he was a fan of mine and wanted to come hang out.”
Danny McBride admits he had no clue how the rapper got his phone number in the first place, which just adds another layer to the situation. On the one hand, doing abiopic about Kanye Westseems like an inevitability, especially given the success ofBohemian Rhapsodylast year. West has become a larger than life figure who is incredibly popular and, despite what one might think of him now, he had a fascinating and meteoric rise to the top. It could make for good cinema. Yet, as pitched, it would be a head-scratcher, to say the least of it.
Kanye West is making active strides to break into Hollywood. He’s also got a Showtime series in the works titledOmniverse, which he’s working on withJaden Smithand sounds equally puzzling. Danny McBride, meanwhile, is busy writing his pair of Halloween sequels,Halloween KillsandHalloween Ends, which begin shooting this fall. Feel free to check out the full clip from the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel below.
