Common lands first TV role
Rapper Common has just been cast in his first television role as the lead on AMC’s new western pilot entitled Hell on Wheels.
According to an article on THR.com, “The show is described as a contemporary western that centers on the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.”
Common will play the role of a freed half-black, half-white slave named Elam who journeys west to work the railroad and to find his place in the world.
Common has been seen on the silver screen opposite Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, and Bryce Dallas Howard in the 2009 sci-fi adventure Terminator: Salvation; opposite Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie in the 2008 crime thriller Wanted; opposite Queen Latifah, Paula Patton, Phylicia Rashad, and Pam Grier in the 2010 romantic comedy Just Wright and opposite Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg, Mark Ruffalo, James Franco, and Mila Kunis in the 2010 romantic crime comedy Date Night.
As for his music career, he has won two BET Awards, two Black Reel Awards, two Grammy Awards, the first in 2003 for Best R&B song for “Love of my Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)” and the second in 2006 for Best Rap Performance by Duo or Group for “Southside.” He has been nominated for five Image Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, two Soul Train Awards and one Vibe Award.
