This story originally appeared on Them.
If you’re a transgender actor, rapper Kid Cudi may have work for you.
The Grammy Award-winning performer took to X on Wednesday, shortly after announcing that he would write, direct, and star in a biopic about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, writing, “If you are a trans actor looking for work, holla at me. 🙏🏾❤️🔥”
Already, Kid Cudi appears to be making contact with one user who asked for help finding work as a background extra or minor supporting announcement.
The Jean-Michel Basquiat biopic announcement, made on Instagram, specified that filming would begin in 2027. A poster design floated the title Jean for the project. “For years people have asked me about playing [Basquiat] in a film,” Kid Cudi wrote in the post. “But no project actually came to be. This year, I finally said f**k it, ima write it myself.”
The rapper went on to describe the film as “a love letter to Jean, the ’80s, and NY city,” adding that “it will be the biggest honor to tell his story in a way we haven’t seen before.”
Basquiat, hailed as an icon of Neo-expressionism, went from making graffiti and street art in the 1970s to international exhibition in the 1980s. He died of a heroin overdose in 1988 at the age of 27. His work has since become some of the most sought-after in the art world. Biographers and contemporaries say that Basquiat had relationships with both men and women throughout his life, though he never labeled his sexuality.
Kid Cudi is no stranger to the silver screen, having recently appeared in Trap and Happy Gilmore 2. His post seeking trans actors comes after several industry figures have posted about the difficulty of continuing to secure work in Hollywood.
Earlier this week, Billions star Asia Kate Dillon publicly asked for help returning to the service industry, writing that acting work had “all but diminished.” Dillon joins I Saw the TV Glow star Jack Haven and Odyssey actor Elliot Page, who have both opened up this year about the difficulty of securing roles despite their recent successes.
In June, Orange Is the New Black star Laverne Cox laid the blame for these diminished opportunities at the feet of the Trump administration in a Guardian interview, saying that the White House’s anti-DEI efforts have had widespread ripple effects on academia, art, and entertainment.
“I think the important thing to note is that if Laverne Cox’s income has gone down significantly, what about all the other trans people who are not as privileged and as blessed as I am?” Cox said. “There are material consequences for this kind of discrimination and scapegoating.”
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