NOTORIOUS STAR WOOLARD FEARED NEIGHBOURHOOD RECEPTION.

JAMAL WOOLARD felt such pressure to portray rap legend NOTORIOUS B.I.G. in new biopic NOTORIOUS, he feared he'd be an outcast in the New York neighbourhood they both hail from if it flopped.

Woolard was born and raised in Brooklyn suburb Bedford-Stuyvesent, where B.I.G. - real name Christopher Wallace - is still a local legend, 12 years after he was murdered. And the MC-turned-actor knew the role came with a great responsibility. He says, "The pressure's enormous. I thought, 'I can't go home if I don't do this right.'" He was so determined to land the role of late rap legend NOTORIOUS B.I.G. in biopic NOTORIOUS - he began turning himself into the heavyweight hip-hop star five months before he even auditioned.

Woolard had no acting experience, but was an MC, like the star commonly referred to as Biggie Smalls, and hails from the same Brooklyn, New York neighbourhood as the rapper - who was murdered in 1997. He felt it his destiny to play B.I.G. - real name Christopher Wallace - on the big screen, and set about taking on his hero's look, voice and mannerisms, long before he could even try out for the part.

Woolard says, "I went to Biggie boot camp. I had to gain the weight and I went up to 340 pounds because I felt the competition was so big. I then studied his mannerisms. "This was all five months before casting."

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