Somewhat surprisingly, biopic-happy Hollywood lacks a movie recounting the legendary but brief life of Tupac Shakur. The slain rapper is uncannily suited for the celluloid treatment, with his firebrand rapper-as-revolutionary persona, his frequent brushes with the law, and an early death that saw him ascend to both myth and martyr. If he ever does get his own movie (and he probably will), a good bet to play him might be Anthony Mackie, who portrayed the rapper in a play written by his Julliard classmate; Mackie's donning the bandanna again in Notorious, a film about Tupac’s friend and foe, The Notorious B.I.G.. Mackie met up with me at the W Hotel in Union Square to discuss embodying Tupac for a second time, leftover street booty, and why pungent Eurotrash are ruining New York nightlife.

It's a little surprising, isn't it, that Hollywood hasn't raced to get a Jesse Owens biopic greenlit yet. You'd think with the rags-to riches-to redemption biopic craze and the inspirational anything-is-possible sports movie obsession that Owens, an authentic American hero, would be ripe. At the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Owens defused Adolf Hitler's weird "master race" thing by winning four gold medals in front of the Führer himself. Back home, his hero's welcome was stunted by much of the same racial prejudice he was met with overseas. This movie will be everything to all people. Revelatory historical lesson, Nazi thriller, inspirational sports pic, and the feel-good movie of the year! So what's holding it up? Truth be told, actor Anthony Mackie, who stars as Tupac Shakur in the upcoming Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious, has been slated to play the track star for a couple of years, and last week I had the chance to ask him about it.