Ray J recently admitted that he blew his shot at the starring role in 2002’s Drumline because he wasn’t ready.
During a chat on We Playin’ Spades with Nick Cannon and Courtney Bee, Cannon brought up Ray J’s audition for the beloved movie. Ray J confessed that the role wasn’t meant for him since he wasn’t in the right headspace at the time. He even joked that Cannon’s manifestation game was so strong it pushed him out of contention.
“So I had to come to the reading just to go in there and do it one time,” Ray J shared. “So it was already done and when I went in, bro, I was underprepared. I was a mess. It was disgusting. Performance was at an all-time low. Terrible.
“They will tell you it was really supposed to be locked in but again it wasn’t for me it was for [Nick Cannon]. So whatever kind of manifesting you were doing, it curved me.”
Ray J touched on this story before in 2023, saying he “didn’t give a fuck” at the time since he was chasing money elsewhere. Still, he admitted losing the role stung bad after seeing how it launched Cannon’s career.
On The Pivot last year, Cannon revealed how Will Smith played a key role in getting him the part. Smith personally reached out to make it happen.
“People don’t even know this when it was up between me and another individual for Drumline, [Will Smith] personally made the phone call to the head of the studio and said ‘this is the person you need to give this job to,'” Cannon shared.
T.I. also spilled in 2023 that he could’ve landed the lead role in Drumline but backed out when he realized he’d have to actually learn to play drums.
“I just didn’t want to commit myself to it at the time. It wasn’t there. But I read, and I didn’t get it, and that movie went on to be Drumline,” he explained. “Yeah, I was reading for Nick Cannon’s part.”
