NOTORIOUS - LIL' KIM URGED TO SEE NOTORIOUS BEFORE JUDGING FILM

LIL' KIM URGED TO SEE NOTORIOUS BEFORE JUDGING FILM

NOTORIOUS screenwriter REGGIE ROCK BYTHEWOOD is urging the late NOTORIOUS B.I.G.'s mistress LIL' KIM to watch the new biopic in full - because he's convinced she will be happy with what she sees.
The No Matter What They Say rapper, real name Kimberly Jones, recently hit out at Notorious B.I.G.'s mother, Voletta Wallace, and the legendary MC's widow Faith Evans, accusing the pair of letting filmmakers portray her in a negative light.
But Bythewood, who penned the big-screen project with Biggie biographer Cheo Hedari Coker, insists Lil' Kim only saw an early draft of the script - long before he got the chance to interview her to get her side of the story.
And Bythewood insists he's incorporated parts of that conversation into the final product.
He tells MTV, "When I was brought onto the project, I requested to speak with Kim. Once I was granted access, I was blown away by the two-hour phone interview (we had). She is a complex person. She is a sister with a lot of vulnerability and a lot of strength. Much of what she told me went directly into my next draft.
"Unfortunately, she was slipped a draft that was written before our conversation. She was angry at the producers and I did not get to speak with her again.
"Some of what I wrote about Kim did not make it in the final version of the script. Those decisions were made not just by me but by the studio, director and producers. In a film like this, it is hard to put everything in."
The scriptwriter has also defended casting producers' decision to choose singer-turned-actress Naturi Naughton, formerly of R+B group 3LW, to play the raunchy rapstress.
He adds, "My aim was to present a real-life human being beyond the icon we know. Biggie did right by her at times. He also did her wrong at times. In spite of that, there was deep love and caring between them. Though Lil' Kim has been victimised at times, she has never remained a victim.
"I think director George Tillman and Naturi Naughton, who plays Lil' Kim, did a great job revealing that."