In a recent interview actor Wood Harris reveals a shocking story in which a Tupac lookalike was used after he was shot.
It has been more than 26 years since the world lost Tupac Shakur after being shot multiple times on the busy intersection of Koval and Flamingo in Las Vegas. Although many stories of Tupac continue to surface on a weekly basis, the 26 years has caused many of these stories to be told with inaccuracies. Actor Wood Harris’ appearance on The Rich Eisen Show falls into that category.
Harris, now 53-years-old, had the opportunity to act alongside Tupac Shakur in the 1994 film, Above The Rim. The film was Tupac’s third film coming off incredible performances in Juice and Poetic Justice. Filmed during the fall of 1993, Tupac would face serious legal troubles.
In October of 1993, Tupac was arrested in Atlanta for shooting two off-duty police officers. Chargers were eventually dropped. Weeks later Tupac was again in cuffs as he was charged for allegdly raping a female at a New York hotel.
When appearing on the popular talk show, Harris was asked to share a “good” Tupac story during the Above The Rim movie shoot.
Tupac lookalike in Harlem
“During that he got shot the first time. All that stuff the rape allegation and claim that came out and the shooting of him happened during Above The Rim at the end of it. So at the end I had the director and the producer come to me and said to me, ‘Okay we’re going to change the end of the movie since he has been shot, so we think we’re going to do this. We’re not sure, but we think we’re going to do this.’ So they had this entirely different path to take on the film,” Harris explained.
Harris’ story appears to be half true. Tupac was indeed hit with rape allegation. As far as being shot, Harris is off by a year. Tupac was shot in November of 1994, not 1993. Perhaps Above The Rim directors were scrambling for alternatives because of Tupac’s legal woes and not because he had been shot, as the film was in production from October to December of 1993.
“Turns out they found in the crowd a lookalike,” reveals Harris on The Rich Eisen Show. The Jeff Pollack film was primarily shot in Harlem, New York City. “They utilized the lookalike, which happened to look a lot like Tupac. Was the same stature. Used at the end of the film. That’s how they resolved that,” said Wood Harris.
