'Four Brothers' – Andre Benjamin Q&A

Chris Salmon catches up with one half of OutKast to discuss making the transition from singer to actor.

Sep 27 2005

Sitting in the kind of London hotel suite you probably come to expect when your last album sold more than ten million copies, Andre Benjamin's (aka Andre 3000) attention is focused on the photo of a man on the front of today's newspaper, on to which he's drawing an ever-expanding Afro haircut. He's here to talk about his role in 'Four Brothers', an enjoyable action romp with a soft underbelly and a comic edge, in which he plays one of four adopted brothers – two black, two white – as they unravel the death of the philanthropist mother who took them in when nobody else would. As he scribbles intently away with his Biro, he tells us in his honey-like Southern drawl about acting, getting old and the pressure of following up a pop classic like 'Hey Ya!'

Did you act as a kid?

Actually, before OutKast I was in a drama troupe at a performing arts school. But drawing and painting were my first loves. That's what I thought I'd be doing for the rest of my life.

Do you still paint?

I don't have time to do it a lot, but I think that side of me may still bleed into the other aspects of what I do.

You can paint when you're older, whereas making hip hop when you're 60 could be tricky...

Even making hip hop when you're 40. Y'know, hip hop and rock 'n' roll are totally about youth, about what's going on at the time. So I don't know if I want to see an old man up there doing it.

Haven't you just turned 30?

That is true.

Did you have a big party?

No, I didn't want to celebrate it, man. I stayed at home that day.

Really?

Yeah. Turning 30 isn't the happiest time in the world. The thing I hate most about being 30 is that you can no longer use 'aw, I was young' as an excuse. That stops. Now you're responsible for the shit that you do!

But now you've got gravitas.

I know, man. That's fucked up!

You've done other films before this.

Yes, this is my fifth. But I'm still a newcomer. I've got a long way to go.

Do you get nervous on the first day of shooting?

Oh yeah, hell yeah. It's terrible. I'm a musician trying to be an actor – it doesn't get much worse than that! But once you're comfortable enough to take the piss out of somebody and they laugh at it, then you're cool.

And your co-star Mark Wahlberg's an ex-musician…

Right.

So he couldn't knock you too much. His music was rubbish.

Ha! Well, when you think about it, his music was perfectly what was going on at the time. You could say the same thing about MC Hammer, and I used to love him.

Do you get the same buzz from acting as you do from playing live?

Well, obviously, it's not an applause type of thing. You don't get any response from the audience until maybe a year after you shot the movie.

And even then only if you go and sit in the cinema to watch your own film.

Yeah.

And that'd be a bit weird...

No, it's actually cool to sit in the theatre when people don't know that you're in there and hear what they're saying about it.

But nothing like that instant gratification of 10,000 people going: 'Yay, you're brilliant!'

No. But there's something different in film, something more subtle. When you're watching a film and then suddenly you're actually in it y'know? You're rooting for a character or you're like, no, don't go in there. So instead of a cheer, people have invested in the story.

That's true. When I watched 'Four Brothers', at first I was like 'Ooh, it's Andre 3000 in a film!' But after about 15 minutes you just became your character. Jeremiah.

Yeah, see that's gratitude man. I love it when that happens.

So there's a new OutKast album coming soon?

Well, it should be out by the end of the year, but who knows?

Is it finished?

No, it's just starting.

Will it be another double album?

No, just one CD. It's like a soundtrack to a film that's starring myself and Big Boi. It's kind of this 1930s period musical in an OutKast style. It should be out by the end of the year. I wish I had a name to tell you, but we're still thinking about it.

Are you also expecting this one to sell 10 million copies?

I don't know. We're in a fucked up position now because of the last album.

Because it sold so many?

Yeah.

It's your own fault for writing one of the best pop songs ever.

I know, it's fucked man. I'll probably never write another 'Hey Ya!' in my career.

Do you worry about following it up?

Yeah, I do. It's not that I need to match it – I'm never gonna match it – but I just want what we do to be good and I want it to be relevant. The thing is, I make music for whatever mood I'm in and I know that I'm not in a 'Hey Ya!' mood right now. So I just hope that the rest of the world is not in a 'Hey Ya!' mood either. It's not about sales though; I know we'll never sell another 10, 11 million albums. But it doesn't really matter man. Truth is, if I died tonight, I can go to heaven and say that I had a great time.

'Four Brothers' hits cinemas on Friday.

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