Black-Cinema

In addition to rapping and hip hop music, Shakur acted in films. He made his first film appearance in the motion picture Nothing But Trouble, as part of a cameo by the Digital Underground. His first starring role was in the film Juice. In this story, he played the character Bishop, a trigger happy teen, for which he was hailed by Rolling Stone's Peter Travers as "the film's most magnetic figure." He went on to star with Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice (for which he was nominated outstanding actor in 1994, but did not win) and with Duane Martin in Above the Rim. After his death, three of Shakur's completed films, Bullet, Gridlock'd and Gang Related, were released.

He had also been slated to star in the Hughes brothers' film Menace II Society but was replaced by Larenz Tate after assaulting Allen Hughes as a result of a quarrel. Director John Singleton mentioned that he wrote the script for Baby Boy with Shakur in mind for the leading role. It was eventually filmed with Tyrese Gibson in his place and released in 2001, five years after Shakur's death. The film features a mural of Shakur in the protagonist's bedroom as well as featuring the song "Hail Mary" in the film's score.

Filmography

Year /

Title /

Role

/ Notes

1991

Nothing But Trouble

Himself

(Brief appearance)

1992

Juice

Bishop

First starring role

1992

Drexell's Class

Himself

Season 1: "Cruisin'"

1993

A Different World

Piccolo

Season 6: "Homie, Don't You Know Me?"

1993

Poetic Justice

Lucky

Co-starred with Janet Jackson

1993

In Living Color

Himself

Season 5: "Ike Turner and Hooch"

1994

Above the Rim

Birdie

Co-starred with Duane Martin

1995

Murder Was the Case: The Movie

Sniper

(Uncredited). Segment "Natural Born Killaz".

1996

Bullet

Tank

Released one month after Shakur's death

1997

Gridlock'd

Ezekiel 'Spoon' Whitmore

Released several months after Shakur's death

1997

Gang Related

Detective Rodríguez

Shakur's last performance in a film

2003

Tupac: Resurrection

Himself

Official documentary film

2009

Notorious

Himself (archive footage)

Portrayed by Anthony Mackie

2011/2012

Tupac 126

Himself (archive footage)

The official biographical motion picture of Tupac Shakur.

The film is currently being produced.

20??

Live 2 Tell

Screenwriter

(Written in 1995)

Documentaries

Shakur's life has been recognized in big and small documentaries each trying capture the many different events during his short lifetime, most notably the Academy Award–nominated Tupac: Resurrection, released in 2003.

1997: Tupac Shakur: Thug Immortal

1997: Tupac Shakur: Words Never Die (TV)

2001: Tupac Shakur: Before I Wake...

2001: Welcome to Deathrow

2002: Tupac Shakur: Thug Angel

2002: Biggie & Tupac

2002: Tha Westside

2003: 2Pac 4 Ever

2003: Tupac: Resurrection

2004: Tupac vs.

2004: Tupac: The Hip Hop Genius (TV)

2006: So Many Years, So Many Tears