Nelly To Play Chuck Berry In Upcoming Buddy Holly Biopic

Nelly has another project in the works once his time on Dancing with The Stars comes to an end.

Source: Gary Miller / Getty

According to reports from Variety, the rapper is going to play Rock n’ Roll legend Chuck Berry in the upcoming Buddy Holly biopic, Clear Lake. Orange Is The New Black star Diane Guerrero and Fargo’s Colin Hanks have also signed on for the project, with Hanks set to portray Holly’s manager Norman Petty and Guerrero staring as Holly’s wife, Maria Elena Holly.

Clear Lake is going to be centered around how Holly and other famous musicians in the late 1950s managed to make an impactful change in the Civil Rights movement while also helping the Rock n’ Roll era itself. The script has been written by Patrick Shanahan and will be directed by Bruce Beresford, whose previous credits include Double Jeopardy and Driving Miss Daisy.

As Pitchfork points out, Nelly and Chuck Berry actually headlined a free concert in their shared hometown of St. Louis back in 2010. Plus, this marks the first time Nelly has starred in a feature film since 2014 when he took on a supporting role in Reach Me. Prior to that, he has only been in two other movies, with his most recognizable role being in the Adam Sandler-led remake of The Longest Yard.

In other Nelly related news, the St. Louis native surprised fans on Monday night’s episode of Dancing With the Stars when he and his partner Daniella Karagach scored perfect 10’s all across the judge’s board after their stellar performance of Brian Seltzer Orchestra’s “Jump Jive An’ Wail,” during the second half of the show.

The dancing duo has secured their spot in the finals set to go down next week.