I'm REALLY glad I saw the movie AFTER I wrote the article....
http://www.thedailyaztec.com/media/p...-1052055.shtml
Playing yourself isn't as easy as it looks
50 Cent makes high-profile acting debut in the film loosely based on his life on the streets
By Tristan Mangindin, Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, November 10, 2005
These days, after a young musician rises up the charts to multi-platinum success, a starring movie role seems to loom in the distance. Following the success of Eminem and Snoop Dogg (and, in a way, Britney Spears), rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson makes his feature film debut in "Get Rich or Die Tryin,'" a drama based on events in his life and named after the album that made him a mainstream success.
In "Get Rich," 50 plays Marcus, a young man from Queens, N.Y., who turns to dealing drugs after his mother is murdered. He has always wanted to be a rapper and, while he knows the dangers of the drug game, he thinks it's the only way to pay the bills.
Dodging one bullet after another, he finds comfort in his writing. And after a near fatal tragedy, he decides to change his life and follow his true calling.
"The film is an opportunity to draw my (fan) base closer to me so they have a better understanding of who I am," 50 Cent said. "Different publications and media outlets give everyone the same story.
"When they get a chance to see the other things that go on in the film, they'll understand my capabilities. Creatively, I feel I've taken myself to the next level."
Although Marcus is based on himself, 50 said that there was still an acting element to the role, and he had to get in character. He said since the film was shot out of sequence, it was often tough to switch moods for the various scenes.
"People think that because it's based on my life that I'm playing myself, but you still have to act," 50 Cent said. "You still have to display different emotions on cue.
"It's not like when I make music, when I go straight from the first verse to the last, and I can stay on the same mindset through the whole thing."
The film wraps up a banner year for 50 Cent, whose March 2005 album "The Massacre" held the number one spot on the Billboard charts for nine weeks and is one of the highest selling albums of the year. He has also worked on projects for West Coast rapper, The Game, as well as an album for each member of his group, G-Unit. Factor in the addition of more artists to his label, such as Mase and Olivia, and 50 has had quite a full plate. However, he said he's taken it all in stride.
"If you figure that I decided to start making the movie immediately after releasing "The Massacre" instead of going on tour to promote the album, I took a pay cut," he said. "You figure that it was a two-year process to compile all the information for the plot and gather the cast and crew together - I figured it was the right time to work on a project like this."
"Get Rich" is directed by Jim Sheridan, whose resume includes the critically acclaimed "In America", and "In the Name of the Father," as well as the Oscar winning film, "My Left Foot." Since this was 50's film debut, he felt he needed an experienced veteran behind the camera.
"I expressed to Jim early on that I knew how much some people would like for me to not do well in the film," 50 Cent said. "I just followed his lead and told him I would make 'his' film.
"If he felt I was doing something wrong or inaccurate, I told him to just change it. I didn't want to tell him how to do things. He's a great film maker."
50 is also joined by a notable supporting cast, which includes Terrence Howard ("Hustle & Flow," "Crash"), who plays Marcus' best friend Bama; Joy Bryant ("The Skeleton Key"), who portrays his girlfriend Charlene; and Viola Davis ("Traffic") rounding out the cast as Marcus' grandma.
Even though 50 Cent contends he doesn't plan on making a stream of movies in the near future, he wouldn't overlook working on another project.
"If I did do another film, I'd do something completely different from the Marcus character," he said.
- 'Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is currently in theaters.
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