It’s been a while since we last saw Nelly grace the big screen but the St. Louis sneaker rap pioneer is returning to film in the near future, playing a rock and roll legend in the Bruce Beresford-directed Clear Lake according to Variety. The biopic will tell the story of guitar hero Buddy Holly, the bespectacled 1950s superstar who was killed in a plane crash at just 22 years old.
While Nelly will depict fellow rock Wayfinder Chuck Berry, Colin Hanks will star as Holly’s manager Norman Petty, with Diane Guerrero from Orange Is The New Black as Maria Elena Holly, Buddy’s wife. Variety previously reported that the role of Buddy Holly was given to Irish actor Ruairi O’Connor, best known for his role as Prince Harry Tudor (aka King Henry VIII) in the Starz miniseries The Spanish Princess.
Nelly bounced back this year after being accused of sexual assault in 2018. While he denied the charges, he spent much of 2019 lying low until he was booked as a surprise headliner at J. Cole’s inaugural Dreamville Festival. This spring, he participated in a good-natured Verzuz battle with fellow 2000s hitmaker Ludacris, then joined the cast of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, where he debuted an eye-catching, custom pair of Jordans. With a new movie role in the works, it seems Nelly is proof that no one is ever really “canceled.”