From Boston to the big screen, rapper and actor Slaine adds to his film credits with his recent addition to “The Running Man” remake.
The film, directed by Edgar Wright, stars Glenn Powell and Josh Brolin and is set to release in 2025. The original film came out in 1987 and is based on Stephen King’s novel by the same name.
Although the “The Running Man” novel and original film differed in plot, they both described a dangerous reality show set in a dystopian future.
“I think it was kind of ahead of its time too, you know, the original ‘Running Man,’ with reality TV and all of that, obviously, years later became very relevant,” Slaine told the Herald in a recent interview.
Slaine, born George Carroll, has joined the cast in London to film, but no details on his character have been released.
With film credits in “The Town” and “Gone Baby Gone” in addition to a discography including “The Boston Project,” Slaine has balanced a full career in both the music and acting industries, saying he was drawn to each for different reasons.
“Music, I always did it because I had to. It’s like a very therapeutic process for me. … I never really thought that I would be an actor, and it kind of picked me,” he said. “I chose music, and acting picked me.”
Slaine broke into the film industry when Ben Affleck discovered him and cast the rapper in “Gone Baby Gone,” and he has continued to work with Massachusetts locals throughout his career.
Most recently, his upcoming album “A New State of Grace” collaborates with Statik Selektah, a producer originally from the Boston area.
He noted the unique culture in Boston with a lot of talented creatives, and said working with others from the area was a great way to get his feet wet in acting.
“We have our own unique culture in Boston, and … it’s almost its own genre in film,” Slaine said. “We have a very strong indie hip hop scene that’s gone worldwide with many artists from Boston too. So I’m proud to be part of both of those.”
Although audiences may remember him as a bank robber or coke dealer on screen, he said that as he has gotten older, he’s been cast less as Boston criminals and more like a cop.
Just as his acting credits have changed over the years, he said his music has as well.
“That’s the cool thing about music is you make these personal time capsules that represent where you’re at,” he said.
Slaine explained that he started writing in a drug epidemic, and now having been sober for nearly 11 years, he sees a transformation in himself that goes beyond the physical.
“When you lose so many people close to you, and you almost lose your own life, and then you bounce back from that, there’s a process that you walk through that you have to kind of find acceptance and forgiveness and humility. And I think some of those themes are more ever present in my current music, where I definitely had no humility as a young man,” he said.
In addition to his creative endeavors, Slaine co-founded Charles River Recovery, a detox and CSS program in Weston, Massachusetts, that has been open for about two and half years.
He said working in the community is one of his greatest passions alongside acting and making music.
“I’ve lived in New York, I’ve lived in LA, for career purposes, but I always come back home because I really just love this community,” he said. “There’s no place like home.”