Ray J Recalls Losing Lead Role in ‘Drumline’: ‘I Was Underprepared’

According to Ray J, he missed out on landing the lead role in 2002’s Drumline because he was underprepared.

On the latest episode of We Playin’ Spades with Nick Cannon and Courtney Bee, Cannon asked Ray J about his audition for the cult film. The latter explained that the role was never for him because he wasn’t in the right space to accept it. In addition, Ray J said that whatever manifestation Cannon did was strong enough to push him out of the way.

“So I had to come to the reading just to go in there and do it one time,” said Ray J. “So it was already done and when I went in, bro, I was underprepared. I was a mess. It was disgusting. Performance was at an all-time low. Terrible.

He continued, “They will tell you it was really supposed to be locked in but again it wasn’t for me it was for [Nick Cannon].So whatever kind of manifesting you were doing, it curved me.”

Ray J recalled the experience before in a conversation back in 2023. According to the singer, he “didn’t give a fuck” because he was focused on getting money elsewhere. But he admitted missing out on the role hurt him tremendously, given how Cannon’s career turned out following the film’s release.

In an interview with The Pivot last year, Cannon discussed the role and how Will Smith helped him secure it. Cannon said Smith made a call to help him lock in a spot in the film, and the rest was history.

“People don’t even know this when it was up between me and another individual for Drumline, [Will Smith]personally made the phone call to the head of the studio and said ‘this is the person you need to give this job to,'” he shared in the interview.

T.I. had also revealed in an interview in 2023 that he was in the running for the lead role in Drumline but had to turn it down after figuring out he had to learn how to actually play the drums.

“I just didn’t want to commit myself to it at the time. It wasn’t there. But I read, and I didn’t get it, and that movie went on to be Drumline,” he said. “Yeah, I was reading for Nick Cannon’s part.”