With the five main members of pioneering rap group N.W.A. already set, the biopic Straight Outta Compton has added Paul Giamatti as N.W.A. manager and Ruthless Records co-founder Jerry Heller.

The story follows five young rappers from Compton, who channeled their harsh upbringing into their revolutionary music, as they pioneered the "gangsta rap" genre and became one of the most important rap groups in music history. Jason Mitchell is playing Eazy-E, O'Shea Jackson Jr. is portraying Ice Cube (his real life father), and Corey Antonio Hawkins is set to portray Dr. Dre, with Aldis Hodge and Neil Brown Jr. rounding out the main cast as M.C. Ren and DJ Yella.

Paul Giamatti is playing the group's manager Jerry Heller, who co-founded the Ruthless Records label with Eazy-E and oversaw their rise to stardom. However, when the band broke up after Ice Cube and Dr. Dre left, Jerry Heller was blamed by many for the band's disbanding for mishandling their funds. Before managing N.W.A., Jerry Heller worked with a number of other musical groups such as Journey, Electric Light Orchestra and REO Speedwagon, while working on Pink Floyd and Elton John's early American tours.

F. Gary Gray is directing Straight Outta Compton from a script by Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge and Alan Wenkus. Original N.W.A. members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are both producing alongside Matt Alvarez and Tomica Woods-Wright, with William Packer and Scott Bernstein serving as executive producers. Production is currently under way in Los Angeles.

Paul Giamatti most recently starred in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and The Congress.