There's a good chance that if you hear the name Shameik Moore, you'd associate him with the voice of Miles Morales from the animated Spider-Verse films. The actor has lent his vocal cords to the character over two -- soonish to be three -- movies starting back in 2018 with Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Outside of that, you might recognize him for his live-action roles in movies like The Gutter or Samaritan or even for his on-screen appearance as Raekwon in Hulu's series, Wu-Tang: An American Saga. But those who have been with his career even earlier might have gotten their first view of Moore's abilities in a gone-too-soon Netflix series titled The Get Down. The show, which centered its story on the birth of hip-hop, was also one of the first gigs that put Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow, Detective Pikachu) in the spotlight alongside industry vets Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Watchmen) and Jimmy Smits (The West Wing). After just one season, the Baz Luhrmann and Stephen Adly Guirgis co-created series was axed from Netflix's slate, leaving a vinyl record-shaped hole in the middle of our hearts.
During a panel at FanExpo San Francisco, while mostly chatting about his time swinging across the Spider-Verse, Moore opened up about the series, breaking down the plot and enticing those who had never seen it to give it a shot. Teasing the basics of his character and the heart of the show, Moore said:
"It's pretty straightforward. But if you haven't seen The Get Down, it's about the origins of hip hop from the disco phase. My character Shaolin Fantastic - the ladykiller romantic - he is at a disco club, he's a DJ, and he steals this equipment, and he's going to this secret underground cool party spot, they call it the get down, but we now know it as hip-hop. I'm basically playing the original bad boy of hip-hop. So that's sort of it, it's sort of break dance, it's deejaying... and it's legendary."
'The Get Down' Gave Shameik Moore a Chance to Shine Close
As luck would have it, Moore was enjoying a steady flow of job offers during the time of The Get Down's casting. Explaining how he and his team decided the musical drama was the best choice for him, he said:
"And it's one of the first three Netflix originals. I remember when we got that offer, that opportunity. It was like a conversation, 'Do we go Snowfall, do we go --' we had a couple things on the table after Dope, and we went [with] The Get Down because I was able to show the most range, and it was on a new platform and I watched things on Netflix, and I was like, 'Of course this is a no-brainer. Like if I can have something on Netflix, let's go.' And that show ended up getting canceled. It was well-loved."
Although it may not be coming back for any more seasons, The Get Down is now streaming on Netflix in its entirety.
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The Get Down Musical Release Date August 12, 2016 Cast Justice Smith , Shameik Moore , Skylan Brooks , Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Jimmy Smits Seasons 1 (2 parts) Story By Baz Luhrmann Writers Stephen Adly Guirgis , Baz Luhrmann Network Netflix Streaming Service(s) Netflix Directors Baz Luhrmann Expand
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