The movie Tupac made to “change my image”
Tupac Shakur was an integral part of the Death Row empire during the 1990s, and his affiliation with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg made him one of the biggest rappers in the world. From his 1991 debut album 2Pacalypse Now to All Eyez On Me, the West Coast lyricist was at the forefront of hip-hop culture.
However, before rising to fame as a rapper, the musician attended Baltimore School for the Arts, where Shakur studied jazz, poetry, ballet, and acting. As such, it was no surprise when he had the opportunity to be featured in high-budget movies, Shakur quickly began hitting the big screen.
However, in a 1996 interview with Entertainment Tonight that recently resurfaced, Shakur spoke about his passion for acting, why he takes on specific roles, and what he wants to achieve when he takes to the big screen.
Entertainment Tonight released the old footage following the premiere of the Tupac documentary series series Dear Mama, which explored Shakur’s life and his relationship with his mother, Afeni Shakur. The 1996 clip was recorded after the release of Gridlock’d, a movie the emcee stred in alongside Tim Roth, Lucy Liu, and Thandie Newton.
In 1995, the artist was made to fight a rape lawsuit, and despite the love for him in hip-hop, he had a tarnished reputation as an individual. As such, during his discussion with Entertainment Tonight, the rapper revealed that he was attracted to the role to alter the public’s negative perception of him.
The Me Against The World creator explained to the media outlet, “[I accepted this role] to have a change in my image, really, number one.” He continued, “This movie is really about friendship and what unconditional friendship means. I did it basically because it was funny, and I’ve never really got to be funny.”
After this, he even detailed how he hoped to secure a role in a romantic comedy. Shakur even unveiled he was considering launching his own movie production company.
Unveiling his plans to Sheila Frazier, Pac added, “We got a lot of good things happening. “If I say it right now, the way my luck has been going, it’ll all fall through … Just give me a month so I can lock it down before I tell everybody. I just want to push the envelope and work, work, work. I want to move further away from the music and start wading myself into the acting more.”
Although Shakur was passionate about acting and had hopes, he did hint that things were going on behind the scenes, detailing, “They’re telling me, ‘You can’t do this. You can only rap, and if you rap, you can only rap about this. Then, you can’t act. And if you act, you can only do the Black films, and you can’t be a rapper…’ I don’t like that. So I try to go outside the boundaries.”
Shakur’s interview with Entertainment Tonight was conducted in June 1996, the same month ‘Hit Em Up’ was released. Three months later, he was tragically murdered in a drive-by shooting and his life was brought to a cruel, premature end.