Richard Wershe Jr., also known as White Boy Rick, was fourteen years old when he became the youngest informant in FBI history, but that shocking true story wasn't what drew director Yann Demange ('71) to the film, instead, it was the teenager's relationship with his father which Demange knew would become the focus of the film. "It’s a story about family really, a single-parent family trying to survive against the odds in face of abject poverty," Demange told Entertainment Weekly, adding that WHITE BOY RICK "is trying to identify with a different point of view, people in the margins that are often talked about at the moment by people who don’t really know or understand what it means to be poor in America and try to survive as a family."
Newcomer Richie Merritt plays the leading role in WHITE BOY RICK, which takes place in the mid-1980s Detroit. Growing up within the predominantly working-class African-American community, Rick Jr. was able to charm his way into a ring of drug dealers which then attractted the attention of the FBI. Matthew McConaughey plays Rick Jr.'s father, Richard Wershe Sr., and the actor is featured in several of the first photos from the upcoming film.
In addition to Richie Merritt and Matthew McConaughey, WHITE BOY RICK also stars Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rory Cochrane, Bel Powley, and RJ Cyler. WHITE BOY RICK is set for a September 14, 2018 release.