P. Diddy praises 'Notorious' star

Rex Features

Sean 'Diddy' Combs has praised the actor who plays Notorious BIG in a forthcoming biopic.

Little-known rapper Jamal 'Gravy' Woolard landed the leading role in Notorious in March.

Combs, who is producing the movie, said he found Woolard’s performance “eerie”.

He told MTV: "Gravy's killing it. If I tell you he's killing it, then that's all we need to say, you know what I'm saying? I don't think anybody could have done a better job."

The film also stars Derek Luke as Combs and Anthony Mackie as rival rapper Tupac Shakur.

Combs said he was happy with Luke's portrayal of him, saying: "It's rare that you get a movie made about you when you're still relevant, but [they] took on the challenge.

"People asked me years ago who you'd want to play me, and I said Derek Luke... so it was just destined. I got to see him do his thing, and it was scary for me. I had to leave 'cos he was acting just like me."

BIG - real name Christopher Wallace - was killed in an unsolved drive-by shooting in LA in 1997.

Notorious is scheduled for release next January.