Rose Byrne was “totally disarmed” by her rapper co-star A$AP Rocky while filming their new movie If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.

In the comedy-drama, the rapper plays a motel superintendent named James, who shares several scenes with the Australian star’s character Linda while her life comes crashing down around her.

At the Berlin International Film Festival in Germany on Monday, Byrne reflected on working with the musician, who has only had a few acting roles in the past.

“He’s a true renaissance man. He lives and breathes art and fashion and film and he has such respect and reverence for all the genres and all artists. I was totally disarmed by him,” she said during a press conference, reports Variety.

Writer-director Mary Bronstein explained that she cast the hip-hop star as she wanted “non-traditional actors for the supporting roles” to give the Bridesmaids star an “interesting” dynamic to work with and signal that she’s “not playing into any expectations”.

“Rocky brings a natural charisma that cannot be directed, cannot be taught,” Bronstein praised. “In the script, it says ‘wink at Linda’… This is a guy that has winked at people before and it’s effective and you cannot teach that and I wanted to harness that and use it.”

The 36-year-old, real name Rakim Mayers, has been unable to support the film at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals as he recently stood trial for allegedly firing a gun at his former collaborator ASAP Relli in 2021. His lawyers argued that it was a prop during the trial, which concluded on Thursday.

Addressing his absence, Bronstein told the publication, “I’m in touch with him personally so I don’t need to send him a public message, but all I can say is working with him was a complete delight and he was wonderful to have on set.”

Rocky, who shares two children with his girlfriend Rihanna, made his acting debut in 2015’s Dope and recently filmed Spike Lee’s crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest.

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