Pop superstar J Balvin will make his film debut in the upcoming drug drama “Little Lorraine,” Variety revealed Friday.
Balvin will appear alongside “Lord of the Rings” star Sean Astin and Stephen Amell in the Andy Hines-directed flick, which is based on true events during the notorious 1980s cocaine trade at a remote fishing and mining town that turned into a hub for trafficking, the outlet revealed. Filming was recently completed in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and Ontario.
The “Mi Gente” singer plays an Interpol agent investigating a suspected Colombian cartel entering the U.S. through Cape Breton, Variety noted. Amell plays an out-of-work coal miner who takes a fishery job on a boat involved with the narcotics trade, setting up what sounds like a pretty thrilling plot.
PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 19: J Balvin is seen, outside Louis Vuitton, during the Paris Fashion Week – Menswear Fall Winter 2023 2024 : Day Three on January 19, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MAY 07: Colombian musician and composer Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvi aka J Balvin look on during the F1 Grand Prix of Miami at Miami International Autodrome on May 07, 2023 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Paolo Pedicelli ATPImages/Getty Images)
Balvin hinted at the project while promoting his “Rayo” album in mid-August.
“I’ve started acting — like real acting, not just cameos — and I just wrapped filming for a movie I’m in that comes out next year,” he said during the conversation, adding that he loves this side of his work and himself.
Hines, who is a Grammy nominee for works with Kanye West, Luke Combs, and many others, has worked with Balvin for years.
He said the two men “have an incredible rapport in front of and behind the camera,” Variety added. “Having him as a lead in my feature is a dream come true, and I can’t wait for audiences to see him bring this character to life.”
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 28: Director Andy Hines attends the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Granitz/WireImage)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 05: Sean Astin attends Day 2 of Backstage Creations Celebrity Retreat at New York Comic Con on October 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images for Backstage Creations)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 02: Stephen Amell speaks at MegaCon Orlando 2024 at Orange County Convention Center on February 02, 2024 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)
The movie’s title appears to come from an actual town in Canada, founded in 1714 and home to roughly 60 people, according to Fandom. (RELATED: ‘Yellowstone’ Star Kelly Reilly Spills Major Spoilers On Season 5 Part 2)
Aside from being a hub for the cocaine trade, Little Lorraine is known for a horrifying shipwreck in which some 500 Irish immigrants lost their lives April 22, 1816. Another wreck in 1834 claimed the lives of a further 248 people, also Irish immigrants.
