Here Are All the Roles Drake Can Play In His Return to Acting

Drake is pretty much king of the goddamn world these days—the dude can seemingly do no wrong.

In 2016 alone, Toronto's favourite son dropped a number one album, hosted SNL, headlined a massive tour, got more award nominations than a Paul Thomas Anderson film and, well, did a lot more stuff but this list has to end somewhere. But that said, there comes a time in every great pop artist career where they need a new mountain to conquer and become a truly transcendent "artist." (The world needs a new David Bowie.)

Turning his eyes to 2017, Drizzy is openly considering a return to his thespian roots ('cause why the hell not?) Speaking on John Calipari's, the head coach of the University of Kentucky basketball team, podcast he outlined his return.

"Acting is another thing that I just can't wait to really dive into," Drake said. "I think after I release More Life, which is this playlist I'm working on and finish this tour, I think I'm going to really start to position myself in the acting world and, hopefully, take some great roles."

Canada knows Drake can play the hell out of a rapping teenager in a wheelchair, but what other roles could he kill? Well, we here at VICE decided to put a little list together to help Drizzy pick his next role.

Everyone loves the Shawshank Redemption. If you don't you're a dirty filthy liar with no soul and may Andy Dufresne have mercy on your soul. Morgan Freeman's Ellis "Red" Redding is one of the most beloved characters in film history. However, why is Red in prison? Well, the answer is actually pretty goddamn sad. Red found himself behind bars because he cut the brake lines in a car that ended up crashing and killing his wife and three others. Now imagine Drake in the lead role of a Shawshank prequel tentatively titled So Was Red. It would have Oscar bait all over it. It would be a splashy period piece, probably feature a terrific director and the Academy might want to make up for giving all the awards to Forrest Gump instead of the original (or Pulp Fiction).

Give Michael Bay $500 million and a contract with Drake to do something Bad Boys style (like a Bad Boys remake!). In the end, we would have one good film followed by three mediocre ones. We know we would all go see them and Michael Bay can buy himself a new row of houses in Hollywood. Given that Drake does have second-tier The Rock-like charisma powers, he could easily turn a dumb franchise into something watchable, like Dwayne Johnson did for the Fast and the Furious series.

While we believe that Audrey Graham could easily carry a film, the smarter route might be to start small—not in the size of the movie, but in the size of the role. Much like Justin Timberlake found his greatest success acting in The Social Network as a secondary character, maybe Drake should just attach himself to the best director possible and take a smaller role to bury himself into. We can't think of a better director than Denis Villeneuve (Canadian) right now who understands how to tie classic indie sensibilities to big, tentpole movies (seriously, how hard did you cry in The Arrival and Sicario was dope).

The director has already finished the Blade Runner remake, and I just want you to imagine a dishevelled Drake playing a self-doubting replicant. He could also release a badass song called "Tears in the Rain" or something that would sell millions of copies.

It's been a long time since Toronto got some small screen love in the American market. What better way for the 6ix God to continue his journey of bringing Toronto back to relevance than starring as a young, plucky detective with a chip on his shoulder working to keep its streets safe. Here's a helpful tip for the CSI producers: A "The Seeker" remix would make for a killer intro song to the show.

Drawn out miniseries style shows are all the rage these days. You have Fargo and American Crime Story on FX and True Detective had a moment of glory, too. The advantage of the anthology season is big-name actors and directors don't need to get tied down, so Drake could take four months to shoot a show and then return to his music career. Could we suggest that Netflix remakes Heat into a super-expensive series that runs twelve episodes (and spends an inordinate amount of time on the character of Waingro—which would be fucking dope) Drake could play the role of, I don't know, let's go with Pacino and the Rock could play DeNiro. (Imagine the new diner scene!) If you tell me you don't want to watch that show, well, you're as big of a liar as those Shawshank deniers.

Yes, he's very good looking, a bit too swole, and has a constant smile on his perfect face. But wouldn't you like to see Drake chew up some scenery Heath Ledger/Joker-style as a disfigured villain in a dystopian western? Imagine Drake facing off against some of Hollywood's most generic A-listers: the Ryans, the Hemsworths, the Chris Pines, etc. God damn, that's a good movie.

It would be very, very good. I don't have to explain it to you because you know it would be very, very good.

No, no, not what you think: Casting him opposite Rihanna would be wayyyy to easy. Rom-Coms get a bad rap (mostly because so many of them are bad) but think of what they did for Tom Hanks' career. Drake certainly has that easy-going charm and is the perfect age for playing a romantic lead. He could go down a couple routes here, there's the traditional forgettable rom com, but it's pretty easy to see Drake fall into the lead of the latest Judd Apatow project (Paul Rudd, you have had your day!). We do recommend a long-distance relationship Rom-Com, so he doesn't need a ton of chemistry with the lead actress (plus, sexting jokes are easy).

I don't know what this would be, but it would make bank—maybe the aforementioned Shawshank Redemption reboot? Just say the word and we'll bang out a script. Get at us Drizzy, let's make some money.