Based on the classic '70s movie from John Carpenter, "Assault on Precinct 13" isn't a by-the-numbers remake. This new version from French director Jean-Francois Ríchet, an admirer of Clint Eastwood's work who makes his American movie directorial debut with "AP13," departs from the original by having a highly trained police squad serve as the film's protagonists.
Here's what Ja Rule had to say about finally getting 'Jeffrey Atkins' listed in the credits of a movie, acting vs. his music career, and working with the cast of "Assault on Precinct 13:"
INTERVIEW WITH JA RULE ('Smiley'):
What are your impressions of the original “Assault on Precinct 13” compared to this new version?
I like ours better only because I was born in ’76 so the movie’s a little outdated for me. But it was a good movie, though.
What do you think about the violence in this film? The director said he wanted it to be real and includes a lot of people getting shot in the head. He wanted people to see that it wasn’t a joke.
There’s some pretty gruesome murders in this. But, I mean, that’s real too. I mean, if he was in a situation such as that. These people aren’t playing. I think head shots would be appropriate, you know?
What was it like working with this cast?
It was an honor to be with all this great talent. Of course, you know, Laurence [Fishburne] and Ethan [Hawke] being the seniors on the set – and John [Leguizamo], too – being the senior actors on the set. And then, you know, Maria Bello and Drea De Matteo. We used to watch Drea every week on “The Sopranos” and then working side by side every day, we were trying to pull little things out of her. “What’s going to happen next week?” (Laughing) So, that was fun. We had fun.
We set it off right. I think that’s what it was. The first night on the set – it wasn’t even the first night of shooting; it was the first night we got there. We were all there as a group together for the first time, we all went out to some restaurant and got drunk as f**k. That broke the ice for everybody (laughing). So that was cool.
John Leguizamo provides the comic relief in this movie, and you have a lot of scenes with him. Were there any antics on the set?
Yeah, he was great. He was great off-camera, too. He was probably better off-camera. He had better jokes off-camera (laughing). Me and John was crazy, man. We all had a good time on the set. I think the craziest thing, the big joking stuff, had to do was with the fake snow. It was like mashed potato flakes. It was like the mashed potato flakes that you buy in the store, wet and flying in your mouth and in your face. It was an experience, but we had fun on the set dealing with it.
What do you feel about your character you liked the most? Was it his fashion sense or how he refers to himself as Smiley?
(Laughing) I think the way he refers to himself in third person. I really didn’t like his wardrobe too much (laughing).
When you consider a script, what are you looking for? Do you want the character to have some growth or to have a moment where they change?
The whole movie has to move me, but the character is important, too. Like I could love the movie and hate the character that they want me to play. And then that’s a question of how much creativity will you let me bring to the character, if I choose the character. I may see the character differently than the way he’s written on paper. After reading the whole story, I may feel like, “I feel where you’re coming from with this character, but I feel he wouldn’t act that way in this situation. I want him to be more like this…” Or whatever. That’s what you do. You try to bring your own personality to these characters.
What did you bring different to the character than what was in the script?
Just little, different things. The fact that he talks in third-person, you know?
That was your idea?
Yeah. It’s just little stuff you try and put into a character.
What made you add that to the character?
Well, I mean if you’ve ever been in jail, you know everybody in jail is innocent. So you know, I wanted to bring that whole sense of Smiley being in denial a little more to the forefront. Like he’s not even there, you know?
PAGE 2: Ja Rule on Acting, Music, and Writing Screenplays
