NEW YORK (AP)

When novice thespian Jamal Woolard was picked out of a sea of unknowns to depict one of rap's most iconic figures - The Notorious B.I.G. - he knew few people had faith in his ability to pull off such a critical role in his first attempt at acting.

"He's a rapper; He ain't never acted; What are they doing?" Woolard, a former rapper who went by the name of 'Gravy', recalled hearing when he was cast as the lead in Notorious. "But that's the game. You can't enter the game without the haters. That's what drives you to prove them wrong."

Fitting into the role

So the 33-year-old embarked on an ambitious and intense boot camp to prepare himself to play the legendary rapper. Woolard put cotton balls in his mouth to affect B.I.G.'s slow, semi-slurred speech; despite being a diabetic, he bulked up his already hefty frame of 270 pounds until he tipped the scales at more than 300; he enlisted an acting coach; and he watched acclaimed biopics like Ray, Malcolm X, and Walk the Line to learn how actors like Jamie Foxx, Denzel Washington and Joaquin Phoenix deftly inhabited the very famous personas they portrayed.

But it was not until he watched the tragic life of delicate French singer Edith Piaf unfold in 2007's French film La Vie En Rose that he felt completely ready to tackle his role as burly Biggie Smalls.

"That right there sent me into my Biggie zone," said an awestruck Woolard. "When she called for Marcel, when she cried for the love of her life, that right there? That girl wore that movie out. That's what really got me on my A-game. I was crying and everything."

Enthralling new face

Marion Cotillard's performance in La Vie en Rose not only made her a breakout star but also earned her an Academy Award last year for best actress.

While it's too soon to say if Woolard might follow in Cotillard's Oscar-winning footsteps, his stunning, spot-on depiction has certainly heralded the arrival of an enthralling new face on the acting scene.

"I hope he continues acting, because he's got a huge future in it," said George Tillman Jr, the director of Notorious. "His instincts for being in the moment, being there, being in the scene and really feeling it ... right off the bat, he really earned everybody's respect."

Woolard hopes to win over not only Hollywood, but fans of the Notorious B.I.G., aka Biggie Smalls. The rapper - born Christopher Wallace - is considered to be among the greatest (or the greatest, depending on who you ask) rappers who ever picked up a mic.

Wallace was only 24 and was preparing to release just his second album when he was shot to death in Los Angeles in 1997. But in his short career, the Brooklyn-born lyricist changed the rap landscape.

A rapper who left behind a life of drug dealing for music, Biggie's clever wordplay depicted the harsh streets of his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood and the seemingly hopeless struggles of the streets.

But he was more than a gangster rapper; though admittedly unattractive with a lazy eye and an oversized frame, he had sex appeal and charisma that oozed into his songs, which appealed to the ladies and club-goers, and also imparted a party vibe into an otherwise bleak world he conveyed on record.

Perhaps Woolard is able to convey the many facets of Biggie because he knew all about the world he came from, growing up not far from the streets where Biggie once hustled.

Down wrong path

Woolard once dreamed about becoming the next Biggie, and had a promising rap career. He even had a record deal, until he was involved in a 2006 shooting at a New York City radio station that garnered more negative publicity than interest in his career.

"I don't think that derailed it, I don't think it was my time," he said of the incident, which wounded him slightly. "I think that God wanted me to do the acting thing."

But back when he was struggling in rap, Woolard hadn't yet had that epiphany. He was spending time in Charlotte, North Carolina, and while he will not go into details, said he was headed down the wrong path.

"I was pretty lost ... not understanding which way to go," said Woolard. "That's the blueprint of the whole movie, to not make the same mistakes that B.I.G. made, and I was really living proof of making those mistakes, I was going down that way."

But then friends and family heard about Fox Searchlight's plan to make a Wallace biopic - and cast an unknown as the lead.

Qualified for part

Though Woolard is hardly a twin of Biggie, his burly frame, his rap skills and the fact that he was from Bed-Stuy made him more qualified than most for the part - with the exception of his lack of acting experience.

That's what really concerned Tillman when Woolard came in to audition for the role.

But he saw a likability and charm in Woolard that he did not find in so many others and, most important, that swagger that B.I.G. had that made him such a commanding figure. Still, he wasn't convinced.

Voletta Wallace, on the other hand, was. The mother of Biggie and a producer of the movie, she remarked when he finished his audition, "That's my son."

"He walked into this room - he had a certain assurance," Wallace recalled. "It was an attitude, (He had) that mannerism, that whole personality, that Christopher - that smile, that love."

Woolard felt intense pressure to do Biggie and Ms Wallace proud, and immersed himself into the role so much that he barely left character, even at home.

"My wife would be like, 'Who are you right now? Can you turn back into yourself, please'?" the affable Woolard recalled during a lunch interview, where he was nattily dressed in a black and white dress shirt and lambswool black coat.

Now into acting

Woolard was also cognisant of the amazing fortune in winning the role, which kept him focused and hungry.

"It's like winning the Powerball for $374 million. What are the odds?"

And now that he's got his winning ticket, he doesn't plan on squandering his fortune. He won't reveal what his next project is, but says with a smile: "Some big things is comin'."

And as for his once fledgling rap career, he's got offers to finally record that CD now that he's shown his rapping skills in Notorious. But he's ready to let that dream go, for now.

"I think that God wanted me to do the acting thing. That's why acting is my new-found love. I'll get to music later. It's not important to me now."