On the heels of Jennifer Hudson’s Golden Globe-winning performance in “Dreamgirls,” another Chicago musician–Common–makes his big-screen debut in “Smokin’ Aces,” which opens next Friday.
The rapper plays a soft-spoken killer in the action flick, sharing the screen with an impressive group that includes Andy Garcia, Ben Affleck and Evanston’s own Jeremy Piven.
It was a role Common almost didn’t get.
“They weren’t really interested in me, to be honest,” he told Armour & Co. when we caught up with him in Los Angeles. “They didn’t know who I was as an actor.”
Common thought he was out of the running after a meeting with director Joe Carnahan. But during a concert stop in Paris, he received a call from Carnahan, who wanted him to audition for the part.
“It was my first callback,” Common told us. “I flew straight back from Paris. I was on the plane in full character mode. Then I went in there with Joe and it was such a high for me. It felt like everything was divine and that this was the right role for me.”
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tarmour@tribune.com
Terry Armour co-hosts “The Stan and Terry Show” Monday-Friday at 9 a.m. on WCKG-FM 105.9.
The Personals page was compiled by Alan Leo from Tribune news services and staff reports.
