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Apr 21, 2023

All Tupac Shakur's Movie & TV Roles, Ranked

Tupac Shakur is best known for his groundbreaking rap music, but he also dabbled

Tupac Shakur is best known for his groundbreaking rap music, but he also dabbled in acting, appearing in some memorable movies and TV shows.

Content warning: The following contains discussions of drug addiction

In addition to being one of the most celebrated rappers of all time, Tupac Shakur's movies proved he was also a fine actor in his own right. After making his screen debut as a background player in the star-studded comedy Nothing But Trouble in 1991, Tupac earned critical acclaim for his villainous role as Bishop in his follow-up film, Juice. In 1993, Tupac once again shifted gears by playing a soft-hearted mailman opposite Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice. In total, Tupac starred in seven feature films and two television episodes prior to his death, not counting appearing in archived footage or as himself on various TV shows.

Whenever Tupac Shakur is mentioned, everyone thinks about his music career. That makes sense as he's considered one of the greatest rappers of all time. However, his acting career likely deserves more credit. While he wasn't someone who was going to win an Oscar, he typically delivered quality performances. The movies Tupac was in were often met with pretty good acclaim, as was his acting and the same goes for his television appearances. Many fans believe that he would've branched out into even bigger roles had he lived longer since he was still on the rise at the time of his death.

As part of the Digital Underground rap crew, Tupac appeared along with Shock-G (aka Humpty Hump) in the Dan Aykroyd-directed farce Nothing But Trouble. The film stars Chevy Chase as financial advisor Chris Thorne who, along with his girlfriend Diane (Demi Moore), takes a wrong turn in a dilapidated backwater. Upon being arrested for speeding, Chris and Diane are taken to a creepy mansion full of strange traps designed by a lecherous judge (Aykroyd). Sadly, the movie was mostly panned, picking up Aykroyd a Razzie for his performance. Lucky, the best Tupac Shakur movies were still to come.

In the short-lived sitcom Drexell's Class, which ran for one season and eighteen episodes from 1991-1992, Tupac made an appearance as himself in the penultimate episode of the series. The show revolves around white-collar criminal Otis Drexell (Dabney Coleman), a businessperson caught evading taxes. As punishment, Drexell is forced to teach an elementary class until the back taxes are paid in full. Tupac makes a cameo in the episode entitled "Cruisin'" which also featured Jason Priestly and Brittany Murphy. It remains a mostly forgotten show and performance for the rap phenomenon.

Tupac Shakur appeared in the television episode "Homey, Don't You Know" from the '90s sitcom A Different World. Rather than appearing as himself or part of the Digital Underground rap group, Tupac plays a character named Piccolo alongside his longtime friend Jada Pinkett Smith. The episode concerns Lena's (Pinkett Smith) ex-boyfriend Piccolo (Tupac) and his friends arriving in her new neighborhood to pay her a visit. However, it becomes clear that Piccolo and his crew do not fit in with Lena's new environment. The Cosby Show spinoff was hugely popular and this was a nice small appearance by Tupac in the series.

The final of Tupac Shakur's movies to be released posthumously was Gang Related, a drug-themed action-thriller costarring James Belushi, Dennis Quaid, James Earl Jones, Gary Cole, and Lela Rochon. Written and directed by Jim Kouf, the film revolves around Detectives Divinci (Belushi) and Rodriguez (Tupac), two dirty cops who get in way over their heads when accidentally murdering a DEA agent. As the two men scramble to conceal the crime by framing a homeless man, they end up creating more harm than good. Tupac turned in a great performance, showing that he could have been something special in Hollywood if he had lived.

Co-written by and starring Mickey Rourke, who also served as the music supervisor, Bullet hit theaters three weeks after Tupac's death in 1996. However, the film was shot in 1994 under the direction of Julien Temple. Plot-wise, the film follows Butch "Bullet" Stein (Rourke), a Jewish heroin addict fresh out of an eight-year jail sentence. Upon his release, Bullet steals from a rival drug dealer named Tank (Tupac) who in turn hires a hitman to kill Bullet. This was easily the most overblown performance in Tupac Shakur's movies, as he was a cartoonish bad guy who looked like he was having the time of his life in the role of the big bad guy.

Above the Rim follows Kyle Lee Watson (Duane Martin), a high-school basketball star with an eye on playing for Georgetown University. When Kyle's coach suggests his mother's boyfriend Shep (Leon) take over as the new coach, Kyle opts to participate in a basketball street tournament instead. Shep's younger brother Birdie (Tupac) is a ruthless gang leader who coaches a rival basketball team in the tournament. Tupac took the villain role he played in Juice and ramped it up here, really laying into the role as the bad guy he played in most of his movies.

In Gridlock'd, Tupac and Tim Roth star as a pair of best friends and heroin addicts desperate to kick the drugs in the wake of a friend's fatal overdose. Upon entering a detox program, Stretch (Roth) and Spoon (Tupac) experience far more bureaucratic trouble than it's worth. Written and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall, the movie also stars Thandie Newton, Charles Fleischer, John Sayles, and Lucy Liu. The film won a Special Recognition Award for Excellence in Filmmaking from the National Board of Review. This was the best performance of Tupac Shakur's movies, and it really showed his range as an actor thanks to him stepping away from a villainous role.

In writer and director John Singleton's Poetic Justice, Janet Jackson plays a soulful poet who goes on a cross-country road trip with her best friend Iesha (Regina King), Iesha's boyfriend Chicago (Joe Torry), and his mail carrier pal, Lucky (Tupac). Reeling from the murder of her boyfriend, Justice (Jackson) wants nothing to do with Lucky's flirtations. However, as the two get to know each other on the trip, Justice learns Lucky has his own issues with an ex who's addicted to drugs and their young daughter Keisha. This was easily the sweetest of Tupac Shakur's movies and showed his humanity.

Ernest Dickerson's Juice follows a foursome of inner-city friends in New York who, in the wake of peer pressure, decide to rob a liquor store to gain neighborhood notoriety. When the plan backfires with lethal results, the fabric of their friendship erodes in a quick hurry. Tupac plays Bishop in the film, one of the four friends alongside Q (Omar Epps), Steel (Jermaine Hopkins), and Raheem (Khalil Kain). Once Bishop gets a taste of power with the possession of a firearm, he turns into a merciless killing machine who his closest friends no longer recognize. Juice was the breakout of Tupac Shakur's movies and proved he was a star in the making.

A Senior List Writer covering a wide array of topics who has been with Screen Rant since September of 2019, Jake Dee has written movie news and reviews since 2008, working primarily with OMG Horror (IGN), JoBlo.com, and Arrow in the Head as a freelance reporter based in Los Angeles. A hopeless cinephile, social media Luddite, certified Nic Cage doppelganger, and a big Weekend At Bernie's fan, Jake can often be found tucked away in a dark corner watching an old horror movie. Born and raised in California, Jake has a Bachelor's Degree in Film & Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis on theory and criticism, is the author of several "WTF Happened To This Movie" and "WTF Really Happened To This Movie" videos on YouTube, and has covered everything in the entertainment industry from set visits, studio luncheons, and red carpet interviews to wrap parties, movie premieres, private screenings, talent interviews, and more.