Rapper-turned-media mogul 50 Cent has been in many motion pictures. From Den of Thieves to Escape Plan, the emcee has had one of the most successful transitions from music to acting seen by any emcee. However, the prolific actor and producer has had some disputes in Hollywood, one of them being with Samuel L Jackson.
Jackson has been a contentious figure over the years. In 2017, after the success of Jordan Peele’s movie Get Out, which starred Daniel Kaluuya, the actor insisted that roles portraying African-Americans shouldn’t be played by Black British individuals.
However, prior to this, Jackson once revealed that he was offered a part in Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, 50 Cent’s debut film, but swiftly rejected the proposal as he didn’t want to work with the rapper who hadn’t proven himself to be a capable actor.
Speaking about why he refused to do a movie with a novice 50 Cent, Jackson explained to Movie Web, “I was actually talking about the fact that producers or Hollywood people tend to think that because one is successful in one aspect of the entertainment, they can bring them into this particular world and make a success out of them.” Which he believed to be untrue.
In the 2003 interview, Jackson explained, “Someone called me about the 50 Cents movie, and I’m like, ‘What are you calling me for, to play 50 Cents? Be in the movie with 50 Cents?’ I don’t even need to read that because that’s not something I want to do.”
He continued, “And when they do that, they ask people like me or some other established actor to be in a film with those particular people that they are kind of headlining, and your name ends up behind them, so to do that, it sanctions the fact that these people into this world and you think they are worthy of you sharing your time on screen with them. I don’t particularly think that.”
The Queens rapper responded to the comments Jackson made in an interview with NY Daily News, aggressively claiming, “I don’t even see where Samuel fits into my life story anyway unless he plays one of the crackheads. He was a crackhead originally, right? So I come from being a rapper, and he comes from being a crackhead.”
Samuel L Jackson stated that he loved 50 Cent’s music but insinuated that regardless of his success in the music industry, if he was to enter Hollywood, he should start at the bottom and put in the work other actors have. You can see Jackson’s interview in the video below.
