From the outside looking in, it’s hard to fathom how Death Row co-founder Harry-O’s life could have possibly intersected with two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington in the 1980s.
Death Row was as successful as it was notorious. It churned out one multiplatinum album after another in the 1990s [Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic,” Snoop’s “Doggystyle,” and Tupac Shakur’s “All Eyez on Me,” to name a few], but also stayed in the headlines due to criminality and the constant specter of violence.
More than 35 years later, AllHipHop reports that Washington and Snoop Dogg are working to bring the Michael “Harry-O” Harris story to the screen in more ways than one.
“I’ve been working on my story for a long time,” Harry-O said, hastening to let the publication know that he doesn’t want his life to be glorified or romanticized but to be more of a “cautionary tale.”
Washington already involved in project
According to AllHipHop, Harry-O confirmed that “The Equalizer” star is already involved in one of the prospective projects. This is a case of life coming full circle. Harry-O reportedly helped finance Washington’s first play on Broadway. That opportunity turned out to be fortuitous for Washington and a young director named Spike Lee, who attended the play. Washington and Lee went on to collaborate on such hit movies as Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man.
Blanco.Tarantino.TV reports that Washington is set to direct a biopic on Harry-O, while Snoop [who bought and resurrected Death Row in the new millennium] is working on producing a comprehensive documentary on the Death Row Records co-founder.
Most know that Washington and Snoop [and Dr. Dre] played together in one of Washington’s most acclaimed and quoted film roles, as Det. Alonzo Harris in the corrupt cop drama Training Day in 2001. Snoop played a wheelchair-bound drug hustler in the classic.
Harry-O said in the interview with AllHipHop, “Denzel’s always been a friend to me, like a brother. It’s not about business, it’s about friendship and faith.”
“We [are] just trying to figure out how we want to deliver it to the world. But that story is coming and I’ve just been blessed,” Harry-O continued. “I thank God for that to have people that feel that my story should be told. And we just trying to figure out should it be a series or which way it’s going to be because we got some pearls to drop.”
