Music mogul and hip hop producer Dr. Dre ended up being played by actor Corey Hawkins in the successful biopic feature Straight Outta Compton. Originally, one of Dre’s kids was considered for the part. But Dre would later veto the casting choice because of his son’s acting experience.
Curtis Young didn’t know he was Dr. Dre’s son growing up
Curtis Young is the eldest son of Dr. Dre’s seven children. But growing up, he didn’t know his father was the hip hop multimillionaire. Dr. Dre was only 17-years-old when his then-girlfriend Joy Greene was pregnant with Young. After Greene and Dre separated, Young was raised by another man who Greene dated weeks after breaking up with Dre.
Ironically, Young grew up a fan of the hip hop super group the N.W.A. But he didn’t know Dr. Dre was his father until Young’s stepfather revealed the secret during an argument with Greene.
“’You wanna know who your real daddy is? Your real daddy is Dr. Dre,’” Young recalled his stepfather saying in an interview with NextShark.
Young’s stepfather didn’t want him to meet Dr. Dre. But eventually, his stepfather and mother separated, allowing Young the opportunity to connect with his biological father. After taking a DNA test to confirm the relation, the two would eventually meet.
“It was like looking in the mirror seeing him face to face. We met at Skybar in Hollywood for the first time. It’s really indescribable. The best way to describe it is meeting your favorite basketball player or football player,” Young said. “Just that moment, it was epic. We sat down and couldn’t stop staring at each other.”
Dr. Dre didn’t want his son to play him in ‘Straight Outta Compton’ because of his acting
Young made it a point that he wasn’t going to ask for any handouts from his father. Even after connecting with Dre, Young asserted that he asked very little from the mega-producer.
“I’m here to set the record straight about me being spoiled,” Young said. “That’s definitely not the case. I don’t ask for s*** from my father. I don’t want nothing from my dad. When I met him it was different. I was a kid. He got me a car and some cash, but that was pretty much for my birthday. After that, it was really just birthdays. I wasn’t asking for handouts,” Young said.
Young carried this attitude even when he attempted to break into the film industry with Straight Outta Compton. Straight Outta Compton followed the rise of the founding N.W.A members, featuring actors portraying the hip hop legends who comprised the group. Actor O’Shea Jackson portrayed his father Ice Cube in the 2015 hit feature. Young was looking to duplicate this casting by playing his father Dr. Dre in the biopic as well.
“I actually tried out for the role, ’cause the casting company called me,” Young once told XXL. “But my father wanted somebody with more acting experience, and I haven’t been acting for a long time, so I’m happy for the guy that got the role.”
Curtis Young found it hard to get out of Dr. Dre’s shadow
With how much of a success his father was, Young asserted that it could sometimes be difficult to make a name for himself.
“You can’t get out of that giant’s shadow. So I’m still in his shadow—and because of him, I have the Young name, and the Foundation—but what I understood was, he paved the road that I gotta walk down regardless, so I need to brand myself as an artist to understand that,” Young said.
To do that meant exploring opportunities Young’s father wasn’t involved in.
“And by me saying that, I mean I have different entities besides music, so that’s what helped me kind of stay out of his shadow, because I’ve got things that he’s not doing. Kind of like how he’s got the headphone thing, I’ve got other things,” Young said.
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