Stormzy to make TV acting debut in BBC drama Noughts + Crosses

The rapper will play a newspaper editor in an adaptation of the Malorie Blackman novel.

March 21, 2019
Stormzy to make TV acting debut in BBC drama <I>Noughts + Crosses</i> Stormzy in Noughts + Crosses   BBC/Mammoth Screen/Ilze Kitshoff

Stormzy will make an appearance in a new BBC drama adaptation Malore Blackman's novel Noughts + Crosses. The rapper, who is expected to release new music later this year, plays the role of newspaper editor Kolawale, a new role written for the TV show who does not appear in the original novel.

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Noughts + Crosses was first published in 2001 and tells the story of a dystopian world divided by race, where black people ("Crosses") are the rulers and white people ("Noughts") are the underclass. It focuses on a romantic relationship between a young Cross, Sephy, and Callum, a Nought.

The show is currently filming in South Africa and Stormzy will appear in one of the six epsiodes. He told BBC News that landing a part in his "childhood hero"'s TV show was a "dream come true."

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Stormzy has previously acted in 2016 British movie Brotherhood. Later this year he will make history when he becomes the first grime MC to headline Glastonbury Festival.

Stormzy to make TV acting debut in BBC drama Noughts + Crosses