Dope’s Shameik Moore discusses starring film role

(L-R) Kiersey Clemons as Diggy, Shameik Moore as Malcolm, and Tony Revolori as Jib in DOPE, opening June 19, 2015. (Photo: Rachel Morrison)

Considered a nerd by those in his neighborhood and bullied by students at his school because he dresses differently, studies a lot, and plays in a punk band with his friends Jib and Diggy, Malcolm is simply trying to navigate through the minefield of high school and the dangers of living in his neighborhood, The Bottoms.

An invitation to a party by local drug dealer Don (A$ap Rocky) gives Malcolm the chance to try to connect with Don’s girlfriend Nakia (Zoë Kravitz) with whom he is smitten, and leads Malcolm into a situation where his whole life turns upside down.

Directed and written by Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood, Brown Sugar), Dope (which opens in theaters on Friday) is the coming-of-age tale of Inglewood, Calif. high school senior Malcolm (Shameik Moore), who lives and breathes ’90s hip hop culture and hopes to one day attend Harvard. His bandmates Jib and Diggy are played by Tony Revolori of The Grand Budapest Hotel and Kiersey Clemons from the Amazon series Transparent. A fan of ’90s hip hop in real life, the Atlanta native’s showbiz career began in 2011 with appearances on Tyler Perry’s House of Pain and BET’s scripted series Reed Between The Lines. In 2012, Moore made his film debut in the Queen Latifah/Dolly Parton film Joyful Noise, and a year later, he became a series regular on the teen live-action sketch comedy series Incredible Crew, created and produced by Nick Cannon.

His big break

For Moore, Dope is a major step.

“It feels great,” he said in a phone conversation with the Banner. “It’s a lead role. I would dream about that happening. I don’t take it for granted. I get to work with some amazing people and it’s being seen by the world. I was able to bring Malcolm to life and I’m just extremely thankful for it and the position that I’m in right now.”

While in Atlanta, Moore would audition for roles by sending in videos. He did the same for Dope and said he couldn’t believe it when he got the call that the movie studio wanted to fly him out to LA.

“I was in the dance studio and my manager called and told me and I was like ‘Oh, snap!’ because this could be for real. The dude that taped me said that this was my best audition and then told me that they really wanted me, that it was possible I could be booking this role. So I went out to LA and ended up booking the role. The whole process was kind of like ‘Yo, this is it!’ It came out of nowhere. I did hundreds of auditions on tape and finally got one.”

In making this film, the 20-year-old Moore was able to combine his love of music and acting. He worked on the soundtrack with Pharrell Williams, one of the executive producers on the film as well as music supervisor.

“It was amazing working with Pharrell. To be able to work with him directly and watch him create and edit and write — that was a treat. It’s amazing. I’m not just watching it on TV, and I’m not reading about it, and I’m not hearing somebody else tell me about it. I’m watching it for myself in the moment — watching somebody create. I thought that was amazing.”

Next up for the talented musician/actor is the musical drama series The Get Down, produced by Baz Lurhman and due out on Netflix next year. Moore also has an upcoming music project called 30058, the Atlanta zip code where he grew up. He hopes to release it online via his website.

Moore says his goal is to show everybody that he’s still doing music but is getting them ready for the album. It’s “for the people that have been supporting me since I was 12 or have followed me on my journey. They’ll appreciate seeing me keep up with what I’ve been doing,” he says. “It’s also for the people that are just now finding out about me being able to see where I’ve been and look forward to where I’m going.”