While it might be a little premature to think that 50 Cent could be a politician or a church deacon, it appears that Vivica A. Fox’s ex is showing signs of becoming a respected citizen–and a fairly decent thespian.
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s acting skills debut on the big screen Wednesday in “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”
The film, loosely based on Fitty’s life, chronicles his journey from a troubled youth to a conflicted–yet determined–adult who’s never quite able to escape his violent past. Although the 30-year-old star conceded that it was daunting to play himself, he views the movie as a way to write a new chapter in a life that’s been riddled with bullets and controversy.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for me,” said Jackson, dressed in jeans, a T-shirt showing off his buff upper body, a red Yankees cap and a leather and fur vest. “It’s an opportunity for me to bring my base closer to me and even broaden it. For those people who don’t choose hip-hop as a form of entertainment, they watch a film loosely based on my life story.”
The film also gives Jackson a chance to distance himself from his more flamboyant alter ego–the multiplatinum selling, award-winning rap artist who has had a few scrapes with the law.
He’s experienced meteoric success since hitting the music scene two years ago with his debut CD “Get Rich or Die Tryin’, ” which was the top seller of 2003, moving more than 8 million copies in the U.S. alone, according to The Associated Press. “The Massacre,” his follow-up, has sold about 5 million so far and is the top seller of 2005. He became the first artist since The Beatles to have four songs in the top 10 of Billboard’s singles chart with “Massacre.”
Worth a reported $50 million, Fitty lives with his son in a 52-room Connecticut mansion once owned by Mike Tyson.
Even with all the success, it ain’t been easy being Fitty.
Lately, billboards for his movie–featuring him holding a gun in one hand and a microphone in the other, and another with a gun tucked into the back of his pants while he holds a baby–have drawn criticism from parents and Christian groups for promoting violence in the inner cities.
Jackson isn’t taking it personally.
“You know what? I like to think for a moment that they’re just being prejudiced against music because music is an art form that has standards placed on it that no other form of entertainment has,” he told RedEye. “But if you go into your local Blockbuster … you’ll see firearms or other weapons used as marketing tools on the cover of these [movies] consistently. They’re all over the place. So, when they pick me and say, ‘Oh, this is violent because he has a gun.’
“But they have nothing to say about ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ or anything else that they’ve seen.
“I’d like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and say it’s just prejudice with me coming from music and not prejudice toward my skin complexion.”
Although the controversies probably have helped Fitty sell CDs and may have the same effect on this week’s box office, he says one of the biggest misconceptions about him is that he has “bad intentions.”
“I mean by not sugar-coating and giving the politically correct answer all the time, people pass judgment on me over and over,” says Jackson, who in 2000 was shot nine times outside his grandmother’s Queens home. “Different media outlets and publications publicized things about me, and people take those things as pure fact.
“They read it and assume who I am without actually experiencing being around me.”
Spending time with Jackson actually is rather pleasant. He’s explosive on stage, but understated off it. There’s a real sensitivity underneath that tough veneer that exposes a kindler, gentler, wittier and smarter gangsta–or possibly actor. Fitty says he can see a day when he’ll do less rapping and more producing, but he’s not looking to be the next Denzel any time soon.
Joy Bryant, who plays Fitty’s love interest in the film, thinks he should. “He was fearless,” she said. “He did a lot of stuff in this movie that people weren’t expecting such as the scene in the shower or our love scene.”
Appearing nude, however, was the least of his worries as an actor.
“Crying on cue made me more nervous,” Jackson said. “That’s difficult. I haven’t cried in a long time. I’ve had reasons to. I just haven’t done it because I’ve kind of conditioned myself to deal with those feelings in another way.”
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Living in a movie world
“Get Rich or Die Tryin'” is only based on 50 Cent’s life. So how much dramatic license has director Jim Sheridan taken with Fitty’s story?
– On screen, Marcus’ (50 Cent) drug-dealing mother was beaten and set afire. In real life, Fitty’s mother was murdered when he was 8.
– On screen, 12-year-old Marcus decided he wanted to be a gangster when he grew up. In real life, Fitty just wanted to be rich.
– On screen, Marcus and the mother of his son find ways to make their relationship work. In real life, he and the mother of his son, Marquise, who’s nicknamed 25 Cent, are no longer together.
– And on screen, Marcus is continually searching for his father.
In real life, 50 Cent couldn’t care less.
“I really have no interest in meeting my father,” Fitty said. “My mother, when I was younger, she used to tell me things to make me feel special about not having my father be around because I’d ask questions. She’d tell me I was born through the Immaculate Conception, like Jesus.”
–M.T., ASSOCIATED PRESS
