Shaggy Lands Movie Role With Kevin Costner And Jake Gyllenhaal, But Says Dancehall Still Comes First

Shaggy says he’s finishing work on a new movie with Kevin Costner and Jake Gyllenhaal, but Dancehall music remains his first love.

Speaking with KTU at the station’s 30th anniversary event in New York recently, the Grammy-winning artist confirmed that he is part of the upcoming film Honeymoon with Harry, an Amazon MGM Studios comedy-drama based on the book by Bart Baker.

“I’m in the middle of finishing shooting a movie,” Shaggy said. “It’s a movie with me and Kevin Costner and Jake Gyllenhaal called Honeymoon with Harry.”

British pop star Rita Ora is also reportedly attached to the production, which is shooting in Brisbane, Australia, and the tropical islands of The Whitsundays.

The film will add another screen credit to Shaggy’s résumé, which already includes The Little Mermaid Live!, The Masked Singer, and American Dad! He is also on stage in Sting’s musical The Last Ship, playing “a character called the ferryman” in a story about a shipyard community trying to build one final vessel after losing its government contract. “I’m acting and singing and doing everything,” he told KTU.

When asked whether he could ever switch fully to acting, Shaggy made it clear that live Dancehall music remains his comfort zone.

“I like doing dancehall,” he said. “I love performing. I like being in front of an audience. It’s an automatic response, and you get to kind of control a crowd the way you want to and really work on people’s emotions.”

Shaggy’s packed schedule includes the release of Lottery, his new 13-track studio album, through VP Records and his Ranch Entertainment.

Released today (May 15), the project is largely self-produced with longtime collaborator Shane Hoosong. The album’s title, according to a release, reflects Shaggy’s long-running belief in betting on himself, a career approach that has carried him through more than three decades and more than 40 million albums sold.

Lottery opens with God Is Amazing, featuring Mutabaruka and Vanessa Amorosi, before moving into the Jeremih-assisted title track. The lead single Boom Body, featuring Akon and Aidonia, has crossed 10 million streams since release.

Sting appears twice on the album: on Shaggy’s reggae remake of Bill Withers’ Ain’t No Sunshine and on Til A Mawnin, a tribute to influential 1980s Dancehall producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes.

The project also nods to one of Shaggy’s biggest records. BUN (She Loves Me) flips the premise of It Wasn’t Me, placing him on the other side of the confession this time. The track opens with a Major Mackerel quote from his 2020 Joe Grind interview before dropping into a bass-and-horn-driven groove.

Stream Lottery below.