Brian Tyree Henry recently gained recognition for starring as Paper Boi in Donald Glover‘s lauded FX series Atlanta. Since then, the actor has begun racking up guest appearances on other television shows and is making the move to feature films. Deadline reports that Henry has been cast in White Boy Rick and will be joining Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern, Bel Powley and Rory Cochrane (Argo).
To be directed by Yann Demange (’71), the story will follow Richard Wershe Jr. who, at the age of 14, became an undercover informant for the FBI in the 1980s and was later arrested and sentenced to life in prison as an adult for drug trafficking. Jason Leigh and Cochrane play FBI agents while Henry will be portraying narcotics detective Mel “Roach” Jackson who is an undercover cop and appears in as many scenes as McConaughey’s Rick.
Lescher (Black Mass), LBI Entertainment, and Studio 8 are producing along with Protozoa Pictures’ Darren Aronofsky. The picture is already set to be released on January 12, 2018.
Henry recently appeared in two films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival — Crown Heights and Person to Person. Crown Heights won the festival’s Audience Award and stars Henry’s Atlanta co-star Lakeith Stanfield. Person to Person stars Michael Cera and is headed to the SXSW Film Festival next month. Henry next appears in tonight’s episode of This is Us on NBC.
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