On Wednesday (April 12), Disney revealed a trailer for Crater, a family-friendly sci-fi film that stars Isaiah Russell-Bailey as Caleb Channing, a boy who goes on a space adventure with his friends. Also in the film is Kid Cudi, who plays Caleb’s father. In the short clip, viewers can catch the rapper-actor revealing how his on-camera son was raised in a lunar colony, further adding depth to the overall story.
It would be impossible not to speculate on Cudi’s Man on the Moon series being his personal inspiration for Crater. His debut LP, 2009 Man on the Moon: The End of Day, stands as a bonafide hip hop classic that influenced many other artists who succeeded him. The equally dope albums Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager and Man on the Moon III: The Chosen made landfall in 2010 and 2020, respectively.
Crater will mark Cudi’s latest role on the small screen after 2022’s Entergalactic, an animated special that served as the visual accompaniment to the G.O.O.D. Music alum’s album of the same name. Created alongside Kenya Barris and directed by Fletcher Moules, the emotionally charged release featured supporting appearances from Jessica Williams, Ty Dolla $ign, Keith David, Jaden Smith, 070 Shake, Teyana Taylor, and more.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Cudi opened up about his approach to acting and how it differs from creating music.
“Well, acting is not as stressful,” he explained. “Acting, you’re playing a small part in somebody else’s grand scheme of things… Music is just different because it’s all-encompassing. I’m thinking about every single piece of the puzzle. And acting, I can take a step back. So it’s a little bit more of a laid-back approach when I go into acting.”
Watch Cudi‘s emotionally charged acting chops in the trailer for Crater, which premieres on Disney+ May 12.