Since its premiere in 2016, FX’s Atlanta has garnered both critical and commercial success, having received an average rating of 96.5 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, earning multiple Emmy awards, and landing on multiple lists of best television shows of all time. But despite its achievements and accolades, series showrunners say they had a difficult time securing big-name guest stars.
Co-writer/executive producer Stephen Glover addressed the issue with Variety this week, shortly after Soulja Boy’s guest appearance on Season 4, Episode 6 “Crank Dat Killer.”
“He’s definitely an Atlanta staple. It wasn’t like we were trying to get him on the show, but I think the idea was so perfect for him,” Glover revealed. “We don’t have the best luck getting high-profile people to be on the show. I know that sounds kind of crazy [because Season 3 featured actors like Liam Neeson], but we don’t. But this was one of those things where there’s no backup plan. It’s a funny idea, but you need Soulja Boy.”
This week’s episode involved a serial killer who targeted participants in the “Crank That” dance craze during the early aughts. Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles (played by Brian Tyree Henry) remembers he was featured in an old video dancing to Soulja’s massive hit. Al becomes increasingly paranoid after finishing a phone call with Soulja, who has decided to flee town.
Glover told Variety he and his fellow writers had completed the script before Soulja agreed to participate.
“[If he had said no], getting someone else to play Soulja Boy would have been hilarious — but maybe there’s another snap legend we could have gotten. Maybe Fabo,” he said
Glover went on to say that his brother, Atlanta creator/star Donald Glover, had reached out to Soulja in an effort to lock down a cameo. Glover said the rapper didn’t seem too enthusiastic at first, but became excited once he realized it was Donald who had called.
“I remember Donald telling me that he got on the phone with Soulja Boy to see if he was interested, he’s talking to him, and he seems pretty lackadaisical. He’s like, ‘Mmhmm.’ He doesn’t seem very interested,” he explained. “And then he’s like, “Wait a second, is this, like, Donald? Oh! Why didn’t you say so? I thought I was talking to somebody else. Yeah, man, I’ll definitely do it!” He was excited. I saw he did an interview on The Breakfast Club a couple of months back where he was saying, ‘I’m an actor now! I got my first role!’ We shot a version on set in Atlanta where he wasn’t there. He just called in on the phone. And then they shot a version at his house.”
Glover said he and his team had become optimistic after landing notable guest stars for Season 3: Liam Neeson, George Wallace, Alexander Skarsgård, and Matteo Simoni were among those who made cameos; however, they didn’t have the same luck in Season 4.
“In Season 3, we had some crazy cameos where it was like, ‘Maybe we can!’” he explained. “But we like to keep the idea that we can’t promise anything. That’s just funny to us to.”
Glover also addressed the failed attempts to get a D’Angelo cameo, and how producers didn’t even try to get a Chris Evans appearance.
“We just think he’s funny. The writers’ room has several running jokes about Chris Evans, but we’ve never tried to get him,” he said. “And it’s funny, one of the producers on Atlanta was like, ‘We might have been able to get D’Angelo.’ Someone from his camp reached out, but we didn’t even think it was possible. He’s mysterious and hard to track down anyway, so it probably wouldn’t have worked out. There could have been a chance, but we just assumed.”
You can read Glover’s full interview here. The Atlanta series finale will air Nov. 10.