Spike Lee Says Meme Led Him To Cast A$AP Rocky
Written by djfrosty on April 22, 2025
The next movie by Spike Lee has attracted heavy attention, as it represents his fifth time working with Oscar-winner Denzel Washington, but the origins of the casting of rapper A$AP Rocky in the movie is also generating buzz. As the esteemed filmmaker is preparing for the premiere of his latest film, Highest 2 Lowest, he revealed that he was inspired to add A$AP Rocky to the cast after seeing a meme that compared the Grammy Award-nominated rapper to Washington.
“What’s funny is that I was looking at Instagram four or five years ago and people were saying that A$AP looked like he’s Denzel’s son,” Spike Lee said during his appearance on the latest episode of the 7PM In Brooklyn podcast hosted by former NBA star Carmelo Anthony and Kazeem Famuyide. “Everyone was saying it. I seen those memes and then in the film, we used that.” The meme shows childhood photographs of Washington and A$AP Rocky bearing a resemblance to each other. Lee suggested that viewers might see that acknowledged at some point in the upcoming movie.
The Bamboozled director also praised the rapper’s acting chops. “A$AP, man, he fire,” Lee said. “I mean, there’s some scenes where him and D head to head – he ain’t backing up. Like, ‘I’m here too.’ So very, very happy with the way the film turned out and looking forward to sharing it with the world.” A$AP Rocky, aka Rakiem Myers, isn’t a stranger to the big screen – he made his debut in the 2015 film Dope, and was in If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You. That film, like Highest & Lowest, was produced by A24. Lee has hinted that A$AP Rocky has a “major” role in the movie.
Highest 2 Lowest is set to make its debut at the Cannes International Film Festival next month. Billed as a reinterpretation of High and Low, the 1963 film from Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, Lee stated: “In our film Denzel Washington is a music mogul with his own label and his reputation as the best ears in the business.” Highest 2 Lowest also stars Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, and Ice Spice in her first film role.