Appearing on The Fat Joe Show, hip hop icon Ralph McDaniels revealed Diddy wanted to play Bishop in the movie Juice instead of Tupac.
Ralph McDaniels was a producer for the classic “Juice” movie, where he first met Tupac Shakur. This would be McDaniels first movie he had ever worked on. Hired as consultant, McDaniels called up Queen Latifah, Treach and Red Alert to be part of the movie. Tupac was the very first person casted, but there was another hip hop artist ready to take his spot.
“When we shot Juice, Andre Harrell was working on this movie with that girl…. whatever it is. Puff was working on that. Puff got fired from that movie,” McDaniels recalls. McDaniels is referring to the 1991 film ‘Strictly Business’ co-starring Halle Berry.
“He (Diddy) said, ‘Ralph, you’re working on Juice. I wanna be Bishop. I saw the script. Bishop, that’s me,'” McDaniels said on The Fat Joe Show. “I was like, ‘But we got somebody to be Bishop already. That’s the only one that’s casted is Tupac.’ He’s like, ‘Nah, I’m from Harlem Ralph. Think about the script, that’s me.'”
Although Ralph McDaniels knew it was going to be impossible to switch Tupac as Bishop, Ralph went ahead and asked one of the producers. Puffy as Bishop was quickly shot down, given the fact Tupac was already casted and Puffy was fired from “Strictly Business.”
Juice recently celebrated its 30 year anniversary. Written and directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, Juice helped to launch the careers of young actors such as Omar Epps and Khalil Kain. The movie was also Tupac Shakur’s first movie role. Tupac would go on to star in Poetic Justice, Above The Rim, Bullet, Gang Related and Gridlock’d.
Also view: MADONNA VISITS TUPAC EXHIBIT WITH DAUGHTER MERCY JAMES ON HER BIRTHDAY
As for McDaniels, his legendary contributions to hip hop as co-creator and co-host of Video Music Box has been documented on Showtime. Titled ‘You’re Watching Video Music Box‘ the special looks into Video Music Box, a hip hop mainstay since 1983. VMB gave a platform to artists like Jay-Z, Nas and Mary J. Blige before they hit it big. Host Ralph McDaniels’ archives — amassed over 40 nearly years — reveal the show’s importance to numerous big-name musicians, as well as to the kids that grew up watching.
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