A little known New York rapper will portray slain star Notorious B.I.G. in a biopic of the late hip-hop icon's life. Producers Fox Searchlight wanted to avoid recruiting a well-known name, picked Brooklyn-based Jamal Woolard out of 100 hopefuls for the film, which will document the tragic rapper's childhood, his rise to fame and his untimely 1997 death in a Los Angeles drive-by shooting.

Directed by George Tillman Jr., the film - entitled Notorious - goes into production later this month and is set for release in January 2009. The producers held an open casting call last autumn in the hope of finding a realistic Notorious B.I.G. Reggae star Sean Kingston and rapper Beanie Digel were among the stars turned down.

Woolard - also known as Gravy - released a number of albums on independent labels in the 1990s before being signed by Warner Bros. In 1999, he was involved in a New York radio station shooting, but survived the attack. (wenn)