Common says he always intended to take on roles that were the polar opposite of his image and personality, and he does so once again in Street Kings, the latest dramatic film from David Ayer (Harsh Times). While it’s nearly impossible to discuss Common’s character in Street Kings without giving away key plot points, suffice it to say he’s not one of the good guys.
“I was thinking about when I first began acting and started studying in class,” recalled Common at the LA press junket for Street Kings. “I would tell my teacher that I wanted to…I said, ‘Man, I want to do some dark roles because I’m always viewed as the poet conscience loving guy.’ That’s who I am. That’s the core of me, but there’s some darker things I felt could be expressed. And it would also give me an opportunity to be an actor, take on a role that was different from me. Because when you’re playing yourself, you don’t even get acknowledged for [it]. I mean, for me as an artist, I feel there’s more challenge in it to be an actor who takes on roles and really becomes a character, and do things that are different from who I am. And you know I’ve done some of these dark characters. I’m looking forward to doing something like playing a priest or a banker or something different, because I have had guns in most of my films. The total opposite of Common.”
Doing research and crawling under the skin of these darker characters has given Common an interesting perspective on hit men and other bad guys. “I learned that the things that you do don’t denote you being all bad. Meaning, just because I played like in Smokin Aces I was Sir Ivy who was this right-hand man to a hustler, and he was a hustler himself, but he wasn’t just a bad person. That’s what I’m discovering is that everybody has good and bad in them,” explained Common.
“I could play a pastor and within that character still may be some lust going on. He still may be doing dirty things within the church, you know? There’s good and bad within all people, and that’s what I’m discovering. Some people’s background and what they’ve been exposed to is the reasons why they end up being in those situations. Like even for this character, Coates, who’s in Street Kings, I went through LA, I went to Compton, I went to Watts and I discovered a new part of LA that I felt was necessary for me to know because I’d always been, when I come here I’m around the Beverly Hills/West Hollywood area. I needed to see the grit and I needed to feel the ghetto and another soul of this city. It was important for me to see that. I think that research helps me in understanding people. Like I said, it allows you not to judge. When you see somebody doing something, you try to come into more of an understanding.”
Common’s visits to Compton and Watts helped him get a better understanding of the LA neighborhoods where Street Kings takes place. “One of the times it was a police assignment because I was learning more about being a police officer, being a deputy sheriff. It was funny. I was driving through and a lot of the cats are like, ‘Hey, that look like Common right there!’ I was hoping they didn’t think I was like a police informant or something,” laughed Common. “It ended up pretty much you just go in and observe. You try not to make specimens out of the people because these are people, people that live this life. And, you know, I try to look at each aspect of the ghetto because the ghetto has beauty to it, too. There’s a certain village that’s there, the village atmosphere and it’s tribal, and it’s community still. So you look at those things and acknowledge the positives and the negatives. Pretty much that’s what I do. I didn’t actually like get an apartment in the projects. But I did go, just what I call touching down with the people there.”
We’ll next see Common in Wanted starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy and directed by Timur Bekmambetov. Common plays The Gunsmith in the action thriller that's based on a graphic novel, although his character was created just for the feature film. “The Gunsmith actually is much as you know gun is in his name, he’s more of a peaceful, calm spirit. More of a Buddha-like type of person in a certain way. Though he’s in part of a fraternity that’s assassins, these assassins issue out fate. Like, they get from what you call this weave… I forgot what they call it. Anyways, something that issues out fate. They tell us who we’re supposed to go take out, and it’s the will of fate. It’s not like a bad thing that these assassins are doing. So The Gunsmith is the calm spirit of that team that actually trains everybody with their weapons.”
Common admits he’s really excited about that particular movie. “It looks like something I’ve never seen before, from the storyline to the way it looks and the effects that they have. And also, even just the diversity in the cast. It’s like you hit every facet by getting Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy, Common… All these different genres and it’s good taste to me, what they chose. If I can say humbly, I think they chose some good people to be a part of it. Man, I’ve only seen the first 20 minutes of the film and I’m like, ‘Man, I can’t believe I’m a part of this,’ so I’m excited about it. We just did some reshoots the other day and everybody seems excited. Even James was talking to me like, ‘Man, I really think it’s a good movie,’ and I can tell he’s critical about things,” said Common, laughing.
And as for those Justice League of America rumors, Common gave a very cagey response when asked if he’ll be part of that movie. “I can’t really talk about that situation, to be honest, so… I wish I could but I can’t, really,” said Common.
