Diddy Wanted The Role Of Bishop, The Character Tupac Played In “Juice”: The Producer Said Absolutely Not!
It is hard to see anyone else playing the iconic role of Bishop, but finding out Diddy wanted the part is ironic knowing how 90’s hip hop evolved with is rivalry with Tupac Shakur.
Ralph McDaniels, the founder of Video Music Box, reminisced about the time Diddy was suggesting to the filmmakers of Juice that he was the man to play Bishop, a character made infamous by 2Pac. The story was told during an Instagram Live with rapper Fat Joe, real name Joseph Cartagena. Ralph McDaniels set the account up by telling Fat Joe that he was one of the producers of Juice, which was also the first movie that Ralph McDaniels had ever worked on. He began:
“I’ll tell you a funny story. They brought ‘Pac in, he was the only person they casted… They couldn’t cast nobody [because] it was when Hollywood wasn’t really trusted with Hip Hop, and people were like “uhh I don’t know, is this for real?” and [producers] were like “Yeah yeah, it’s real.” So they brought me in as a consultant to help bring everybody else in. So I started calling Queen Latifah, people that I knew, Trech…”
Fat Joe stated a few notable names as well, such as:
“Jazzy Joyce, Red Alert… That legendary DJ scene”
To which Ralph McDaniels responded:
“…Right, that whole scene, that’s me. I called all those people and said “Come- you know- it’s good.” They know Ralph is there, they know Ralph, we trust Ralph. It’s good.”
Ralph McDaniels then recalls Diddy, real name Sean Combs, wanting the role of ‘Bishop’ for himself. The problem was that the role of ‘Bishop’ was already cast, with rapper Tupac Shakur set to play that part. Ralph details:
“…And, when we shot Juice… Andre Harrell was shooting [a movie, which] Puff was working on… Puff got fired from that movie, and he said “Ralph, you working on Juice, I want to be Bishop. I saw the script. Bishop, that’s me!” and I was like, “But we got somebody to be Bishop already, the only one that’s casted is Tupac.” [Diddy] was like, “Nah, I’m from Harlem Ralph, just think about it. Think about it. The script, that’s me.” And I was like “That’s [going to be] hard. That’s [going to be] difficult.”
The men laugh at the story, as Ralph continues:
“…And I remember going to the producers and just feeling it out… And [the producer] was like, “Absolutely not! Absolutely not! We already got ‘Pac, that’s the only person we have, and Puff just got fired from “[Strictly] Business”… and we know him. He can’t come on this set.” so I was like “Alright, no problem.”
Check out the clip below to hear Ralph McDaniels tell the story.
