Wayne Barrow, producer of the film Notorious, has released the first photo of Jamal Woolard in the role of B.I.G. (aka Christopher Wallace) over on his official blog. Dude looks just like B.I.G., who will always go down as one of New York's greatest rap artists. Underneath the photo, Wayne writes, "Although Jamal has a bit of history of his own in the music industry, he is still relatively unknown, which we thought was an integral element in filling the role. Jamal, a Brooklyn native, has been working hard to capture the spirit of Christopher's character, the soul of the man. We are extremely excited about our choice of casting, his natural charm and charismatic demeanor is very reminiscent of B.I.G and we look forward to sharing this ride with him..."

This should be a fascinating little picture, especially if you were/are a fan of Biggie Smalls and his music. (My wife still rocks out the occasional Biggie track in the car during a long road trip.) Starring alongside Woolard will be Angela Bassett (playing Smalls' mother, Voletta), Derek Luke (as Sean "Diddy" Combs) and Anthony Mackie (as Tupac Shakur). George Tillman Jr. will direct, while the film is set to head into production on March 24 in New York City. Fox Searchlight has already set a release date of January 16, 2009 for Notorious.

So, does this guy look like Biggie ... or what?

No, that's not the Notorious B.I.G. That's Jamal Woolard, who has just been cast by Fox Searchlight to play him, Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls, in the upcoming biopic Notorious. Man, the only possible critique I could come up with is that his eyebrows are a little dark. That's some spot-on casting. They're definitely not Dead Wrong.

Voletta Wallace, Smalls' mom, is happy with the casting as well: "it was Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile that won my heart. He is a talented and charismatic actor and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to the big screen." Topping that off, Woolard also has the real-life experience to make this pop. THR adds to the press release, explaining that Jamal is a drug-dealer-turned-rapper just like Wallace was.

Under the directorial eye of George Tillman Jr., we've got Woolard as Wallace, Angela Bassett as Voletta, Derek Luke as Sean Combs, and Anthony Mackie as Tupac Shakur. Production begins March 24 in New York.