Working on the Hip-Hop biopic Notorious, now in theaters, the cast was afforded a first-hand look at
the life and times of legendary MC The Notorious B.I.G. and the people who knew him best. Angela Bassett, Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke, Antonique Smith and Naturi Naughton reflect on their roles in one of the most important Hip-Hop films.

It can’t be easy to be an actor. Outside of the glitz and glamour of the red carpet and flashing lights, your job is to wear a different face in front of the camera convincingly enough to make the audience believe that it’s the only face you’ve ever owned.

So what happens when the face, persona and swagger you’re asked to don not only isn’t yours, but also belongs to one of the most recognized names in the rap world? A person whose moves were photographed, reported and dissected? They say imitation is the purist form of flattery, but in the case of at least five of the stars of the Biggie Smalls’ biopic Notorious, it may also be the quickest way to an ulcer.

One of the most unique challenges posed in making the film was that unlike other tribute films the main characters—other than Biggie and 2Pac, of course—are not deceased or away from the limelight. “Intimidating, a little nerve-racking,” says R&B starlet Naturi Naughton of playing the Queen Bee, Lil’ Kim, in the film. “People always expect you to be what they see themselves as and the fans see these real life people on the regular in videos or at award shows.”

It’s an anxiety that was shared by her co-star, acclaimed actor Derek Luke, who played Sean “Puffy” Combs. “Man, part of my swag is that I refused to be critiqued,” he says, sitting in the steamy studio during his press day. “But one of the things that hung over my shoulder is that Puff is still around. It can hinder you getting into the depth of the performance.”

Even though Luke had concerns on things as basic as not looking like his subject, it would turn out that his subject would be his biggest supporter. “He said, ‘If you need me, I’m just a call away.’ But every time I hit him, he was like, ‘Nah, I can feel it on you. You got it. You gon’ do it.”

In situations like these, the actor must rely on other sources. The tool most actors will tell you they use to get into character is to find something in their roles they can relate to and draw from. Angela Bassett and Ms. Wallace have motherhood in common. Former 3LW member and Broadway star Naturi Naughton has experienced fame and the controversy that comes hand-in-hand, like Lil’ Kim. As the face of the Broadway musical Rent,Antonique Smith shares the state of New Jersey and roots in the church with Faith Evans.

But perhaps no actor was as close to his character as Jamal Woolard, also known as Brooklyn rapper Gravy, who played the lead role of Biggie in the film. But even though the two share a passion for rhyme, a knowledge of the hustle and a swagger and attitude unique to BK, Woolard admits to being
baffled as to what made Biggie tick and was happy to have the assistance of those in his inner circle.

“Footage wise, he always had a shield on,” Woolard says, reclining in a Manhattan recording studio. “He was always Notorious. I couldn’t see behind the glasses. At the end of the day, Ms. Wallace, Puff, Faith and Cease were the most important people in his life, so it was great to have the access to them to re-invent Christopher.”

Antonique Smith, who played Faith Evans, also enjoyed support and encouragement from Evans herself. “Faith told me she was happy, so that was a big sigh of relief,” the now brunette Smith says with a beautiful smile. “So now it’s just the verdict from the fans.”

But as happy as they all are with the acclaim, none want to allow their performances to make fans lose sight of the bigger picture. “It’s not about us imitating them in videos,” says Smith. “It’s not even about what the public saw. It’s more about what the public didn’t see. You’re a fly on the wall in Biggie’s life.”

And the life of Christopher Wallace, however brief, may prove to be too big for any screen. All fans will feel as if they knew him best. All fans will remark on things they feel should have been included that didn’t show up in the film. But the thing to keep in mind is that although the legend lives as large as the man himself, the point of the movie is to show the audience a legend.

As acclaimed actress Angela Bassett, who was chosen to represent the woman who birthed that legend, is quick to point out, although he would go down in history as one of the most feared and respected MCs of all time, Biggie Smalls began as his mother’s baby.

“He loved Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin,” Angela Bassett says in a voice only a mother could make. She spent time with Ms. Wallace, taking in her mannerisms and hearing childhood stories about the boy who would be king. “He’s the type to take a stray in, wash him up, put the best towels on him and take the best steaks out the freezer, the steaks that she bought him!” Bassett adds with a laugh. “I have children but I don’t give them steak. He gave the best of himself to everyone.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Bassett avoided listening to Biggie’s music during production. What better way to keep the innocent glow of a man known as Notorious? “There’s no need to be really familiar with it, because to her [Voletta Wallace] it was like, ‘What’s that noise? Who are these hoodlums? All this black—black hoods and all this—what are you in there doing?’”

If anybody questions the duality of Biggie’s raw yet giving nature, according to Angela Bassett, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. “Yes, she’s very generous,” Bassett says of Ms. Wallace. “I mean, she tells the truth. She tells it like it is, but it’s tempered with so much love and generosity.”

The duality didn’t stop there. As the actresses who portrayed them would soon discover, the women in Biggie’s life also knew the parts of his personality and their own that the outside world wasn’t privy to. “A lot of people are going to see the other side of Biggie and my character,” says Naturi Naughton. “Lil’ Kim cared about what Biggie said, she wanted his approval so much so that she stuck around when she had to play secondary in his life. She really loved him.”

According to Antonique Smith, Faith’s role wasn’t any easier. “When he wasn’t with her, he still almost treated her the same as he treated Kim, even though she was the one that he chose to marry, which was definitely telling.”

In the face of Biggie’s overwhelming charisma and invincible outer wall, Derek Luke learned just how human Biggie could be when he realized that in the middle of an East Coast/West Coast war, Biggie relied on his friendship with Puffy as much as any hot 16. “I didn’t know how close of a bond it was,” Luke says. “That even though there was a war and fires going on outside, it didn’t effect who they were.”

In the end, Notorious deals with the evolution of a man, not a rapper or a gangster, but a man—a father, a son, a husband, a businessman and a friend, who in his short life managed to touch those around him with the greatness he possessed. Biggie wasn’t a saint or a sinner, hero or villain. He was simply a man whose journey wasn’t complete. He will always be remembered for the path he chose, as well as the roads not taken.

“I think he would be with his kids right now,” Jamal Woolard says, imagining a world where Biggie was still alive. “A boss like Jimmy Iovine. I don’t think he’d stop rhyming because you never lose the passion. I know his style would be different.”

But when asked what that style would be, Woolard simply throws that Biggie-esque grin. “Only Big,” he says, “could tell you that.”