An actor has finally been found to portray slain rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace in an upcoming biopic, in the person of Jamal Woolard, aka rapper Gravy.

Fox Searchlight has been looking for a star for a year now and its efforts are finally paying off. Rapper Jamal Woolard will portray Notorious B.I.G. in the studio’s biopic “Notorious,” Variety reports.

The film will tell the story of Christopher Wallace, a Brooklyn native best remembered as the rap artist The Notorious B.I.G., from his troubled beginning as a drug dealer to his rise to hip-hop stardom.

Notorious was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting in 1997. He was only 24. His murder has never been solved.

Angela Bassett, Derek Luke and Anthony Mackie also will star.

Bassett will portray Voletta Wallace, the singer’s mother. Luke will play Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was in the car when Biggie was killed, while Mackie will portray Biggie's hip-hop rival Tupac Shakur. Shakur was slain in another drive-by shooting six months prior to Notorious’ death.

George Tillman Jr. is directing “Notorious” from a screenplay by Cheo Hodari Coker and Reggie Rock Bythewood. Filming is set to start March 24, in all five boroughs of New York, per Variety. The film is slated for a Jan. 16, 2009 release.

Newcomers Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Dennis White and Julia Pace Mitchell round out the cast.

Wayne Barrow, Mark Pitts, Bob Teitel and Trish Hofmann also are producing, while Combs is exec producing.

“It was Jamal's charming personality, warm spirit, wonderful sense of humor and beautiful smile that won my heart,” Voletta Wallace was quoted by RottenTomatoes.com as saying of the Brooklyn native who will portray her late son.

“He is a talented and charismatic actor and I am excited that he will bring Christopher's character to the big screen.”

Wallace is also one of the film’s producers.