Terrence Howard Doesn’t Get Involved in the Music of Idlewild: Asked if he ever wanted to grab the mic and join in, Howard said, “No. When you see lions up there fighting, you don’t jump in the cage. These cats, these guys are great. Andre and Macy Gray and Antwan, they’ve been at this for 15-odd years. They’ve mastered what they do. I will not come and trip them up. I don’t even know how to hold the damn mic properly, so I wouldn’t even try and touch it.”
Going Toe to Toe with Big Boi: “Well, see, most of the time when he’s on stage, he’s on stage by himself and he had this whole avenue of opportunities to do whatever he wants. He could focus on any audience member that’s there to watch him perform and gain strength. But here he was this close to me. I violated every sense of space that he had, so in trying to maintain your composure, you cannot do it with somebody else telling him what to do. You have to be able to stand right there. Now one of the funniest things when he was trying to hand me that wad of money, his hand was going like this, it was shaking and we noticed that. I could’ve pretended like it didn’t happen but I just brought it into the character. And after they said cut, I said, ‘You’re scared, aren’t you? I’m going to run right over you now.’ And he took a deep breath and said, ‘We’re here to fight. Let’s play.’ And he came. He came and from that moment onward, it was [on].
I don’t believe you should take the gloves [off]; you should put on gloves for anybody. Everybody has to be able to hold their own. He did, and he found his comedic sense in his character. When he found himself afraid, he reverted back to what he used to do in other situations, what we all do. We make light of a heavy situation with humor. That’s what makes a character real. And he found ways of putting those in there and he carried himself. I mean, I don't know what help I gave him because I wasn’t trying to help him. I was letting him know we are at war and he stood up for it. I loved it.”
Howard admired how Patton was able to channel his anger. “It was beautiful. Most of my scenes were with him. I had so much with him and there’s such an animosity between the two of us, but then afterwards we’d go into his trailer and sit up and talk about music because I was trying to get him to help me with my music. I terrorized him and then, ‘Can you help me now?’”
Is There an Iron Man Role in Howard’s Future?: The press tour for Idlewild took place while rumors were just beginning to spread that Terrence Howard would somehow be involved in the Iron Man movie. Asked if there was any truth to the Iron Man news and if he was considering a role in the film, Howard answered, “Yes I am, maybe.” Howard also confirmed that if he does take a role in the film, it won’t be as Iron Man. Cryptically, all Howard would say was it’s “someone else."
