Cinema Science

Mos Def has been cast as Chuck Berry in writer-director Darnell Martin's Cadillac Records. Gabrielle Union (Ugly Betty) has also been added to the cast as Geneva Wade, the girlfriend/wife of Muddy Waters, who is being played by Jeffrey Wright. The 1950s period film is about the seminal Chicago record label Chess Records and its founder, Leonard Chess, who started out selling albums out of his Cadillac. Berry, Etta James, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf are among the legends who recorded on the label. Adrien Brody has already been cast as Chess, and Cedric the Entertainer (Willie Dixon), Columbus Short (Little Walter), and Beyonce Knowles (who is portraying James) are also on board.