Biggie's son steps into his father's shoes

Notorious B.I.G.'s son Christopher Wallace Jr will play his own father in a forthcoming movie about the rap legend.

The 12-year-old, whose mother is singer Faith Evans, plays his dad as a child in some scenes in Notorious, alongside actor Jamal Woolard.

Rapper Woolard, also known as Gravy, portrays Biggie in his 20s. And Wallace Jr. - who was just four months old when his dad was gunned down in 1997, aged just 24 - found the experience helped him learn more about his late father.

During a chat with his grandmother Violetta Wallace, in the December issue of Interview magazine, the young actor says: "My mum told me some of the stuff he used to do. Like how he rubbed his nose sometimes. And then I got some of my character's scenes six or seven months before we actually shot the film, so I went over that stuff a lot."

He was even told to tap into his own feelings for the father he never knew, to help him get emotional in scenes: "My acting coach said I should think about if he was alive, how I miss him, and I really got into it."

And Wallace Jr. has definite plans to follow his father's footsteps, once he has finished his education. He adds: "(I'll) probably (go into rap). But I want to go to college. And I want to graduate and study film."