RZA has booked his first series regular role.
The Grammy-nominated Wu-Tang Clan rapper-producer has joined the cast of Fox's drama pilot Gang Related, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
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Gang Related centers on Ryan Lopez (Charlie's Angels' Ramon Rodriguez), a gang member sent to infiltrate the San Francisco Police Department and rise through its ranks. He must balance his obligations to his crime family -- the gang from his old neighborhood -- with an increasing sense of loyalty to his new "family," the SFPD's Gang Task Force.
RZA will play Cassius, Ryan's partner and best friend on the Gang Task Force. He decided to become a cop after the object of his affection was gunned down. The community's ambivalence toward her death drives him to seek justice in a world that seems to have stopped caring.
The author, MC and aspiring screenwriter joins a cast that also includes Jay Hernandez, Sung Kang and Inbar Lavi.
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Fast and Furious' Chris Morgan will pen the pilot for 20th Television and executive produce alongside Scott Rosenbaum, Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo. Allen Hughes will direct the pilot, which also hails from Imagine Entertainment. The cast also includes Fast and Furious' Sung Kang and Inbar Lavi.
Repped by CAA and Lichter Grossman, RZA previously had a recurring role on Showtime's Californication and has appeared in features American Gangster and The Man With the Iron Fists, which he wrote, directed and produced.
Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit
