CULTURE

Cardi B Is Making Her Film Debut in the Stripper Drama Hustlers

Could this be Cardi’s ‘A Star Is Born’ moment?

Cardi B
Photograph by Mickalene Thomas; Styled by Kollin Carter.

In just a few years, Cardi B has conquered reality TV, social media, and, of course, music. Soon she will be expanding her brand once again. The rapper has just signed on to star in—what else?—an upcoming stripper drama, Hustlers, alongside a very stacked cast.

Cardi B will be making her film debut in the project, which costars her recent “Dinero” collaborator Jennifer Lopez, Crazy Rich Asians’ Constance Wu, Riverdale’s Lili Reinhart, Scream Queens’ Keke Palmer, and the aughts teen-movie staple Julia Stiles. Mercedes Ruehl, from The Fisher King and Big, will also be part the cast, which is rumored to include Cats’ Mette Towley and Transparent’s Trace Lysette as well, per Deadline.

The film couldn’t be better suited for Cardi B, who will bring a level of expertise to it that perhaps none of her costars can. The premise is this: A band of underestimated former strip club employees team up to seek revenge on their Wall Street clientele, stealing thousands from them in the process. As wild as that story sounds, it’s rooted in reality; it was inspired by a 2015 article in New York Magazine. Considering that Cardi B came from the world of exotic dance, she will be able to draw from her own experience for the role, just as Lady Gaga did in A Star Is Born, which landed her two Oscar nominations, for best actress and best original song, the latter of which she won.

Cardi B reflected on her early days, before her “Bodak Yellow” breakthrough, with W last year, saying that when she first started stripping she would burst into tears as her parents’ faces would “pop up in my head, watching me when I danced.” She used to practice her moves in empty cars on the subway when she was commuting home from her job at 4 a.m. “I’m the person who has to prove everyone wrong, constantly. Constantly.”

She will soon be able to do so once again, as the film starts shooting March 22, 2019, in New York. The writer-director Lorene Scafaria expressed her excitement about the casting in a statement, saying, “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with this dynamic group of women. We’re grateful to have assembled such a powerhouse cast and can’t wait to start filming.” Hopefully the film will bring original music from Cardi B, as well as a new talent and some flexing of her moves.