50 Cent Q&A

The hugely successful rapper discusses making the transition to the big screen with 'Get Rich or Die Tryin''

Jan 19 2006

Following in the footsteps of Eminem (and to a lesser degree, Vanilla Ice), rapper 50 Cent makes the transition from music to film with his first feature, 'Get Rich or Die Tryin''. A gritty urban tale, loosely based on his own life story, the film has already been a huge hit in the States, and is all set to do similar business over here. Anwar Brett recently caught up with him to discuss the making of the movie.

Did you take some convincing to star in 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin'', feeling it was perhaps a little too close to '8 Mile'?

'The comparisons with '8 Mile' and 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' I'm totally cool with. For one thing '8 Mile' was a huge success, and I know it's what motivated them to present the idea of creating this film. After the first week sales of my record they approached me with it and I was like, 'let's see what it is.'

Did Eminem give you any acting tips?

Em's a good friend in a lot of things, but he's an asshole too. In the beginning he called me and said 'they told me you're going to do a movie' and I said yeah, I'd been told it was a good idea. He said 'you went for that? You'll be there for three months and be on the set for 16 hours a day sometimes. Then they'll ask you to make a record while you're doing it'. He said 'I don't know why you did that!'. This was two weeks before I got onto the movie set and he didn't call me back until we started. So I'm like 'did I let them talk me into doing some shit I wasn't supposed to do?' He calls after the first day of shooting and asks if I like it. I said it was alright, and he said he was just playing, 'just messin' with me'. He didn't give me any acting tips, he just wanted to make me feel uncomfortable for a moment so he could come back at me and say that.

How would you sum up the differences between your film and his?

Em's '8 Mile' story shows you the battle rap aspect, and I've never explored that because when I initially came into it I was looking at the portion of music that generates finances. I was choosing to write music for a living, the thing that would give me the lifestyle I wanted and enable my child to see the world. When I saw this opportunity to capture my actual experiences on film I felt that this would be highest level where I would be able to make an example of them.

How did you get together with your director, Jim Sheridan?

I met Jim through Bono. I was kind of briefed on his material ahead of us actually meeting so I realised he was a great director. Bono said he thought this was the guy for me, he was the best. He's not a person you can get to work with based on money or anything, he has to creatively be into the actual project or he won't accept it.

You seem totally laid back, far from the image of an edgy, dangerous rapper. Is that how you always are?

Jim says one of the things he was surprised about was me not displaying aggression easily. People assume because the content of the music is aggressive that you have to be aggressive. On the street if you're crying people perceive it as weak, and if you're over-intimidating someone will kill you because you push the wrong person into a corner. So you have to find a point in between. The one thing I think makes people look at me and makes me appear crazy is when things go on around me and I appear unaffected by it. So it looks like 'that was nothing, that was yesterday, today's another day'. But they'll go 'wait a minute somebody got stabbed at the awards yesterday'. It's a major thing to them but to me it's like [shrugs].

Can you believe you've come so far in the last five or six years?

How about three years ago! I always felt like I would be successful at some point. I spent a long time being the only person who felt I would be successful. I can still drift off into a dream. But I've changed, I used to be a dreamer but now I envision things because after assessing the situation I take steps towards my dreams coming true.

'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is released today.

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