Common: Street Savvy

Grammy award winning hip hop artist Common was first seen on screen in the action-packed Smokin' Aces. He was one of Denzel's crew in American Gangster and you can catch him in Wanted soon opposite Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie. This week, Common pops up giving grief to rogue cop Keanu Reeves in the tough action thriller Street Kings. Common's poetic lyrics are spread over six albums including a co-op with Kanye producing "BE" which won four Grammys in '04. Last summer the artist/actor won another Grammy for album #7 "Finding Forever".

Not many fans know that Common also writes books for kids and supports youth organizations. We sat down with the artist/actor recently to talk about his many projects including his music and we appreciated his hot little goatee, shaved head and a black leather jacket played down all friendly-like with a cute pink and white stripe tee.

TeenHollywood: What was your audition like for this film?

Common: I went to audition at [director] David Ayer's office. I remember the lights went out that day; some type of blackout. I went in there and I just gave it my all. We got a good callback, say, 'Hey, you got the part.' So it was a great experience. I love the process of auditioning because it's such a humbling experience.

TeenHollywood: A lot of music artists are also in film. What's your motivation for wanting to get into acting?

Common: I just wanted to express myself in a new way artistically, and it had to be something that I was passionate about. I took acting courses and I was like so enthused about it. Like I felt like, 'Man, I can't wait to go to the next acting class.' I am discovering a lot of things about myself through the process of acting. And I've since come to find out you discover a lot of things about other people as you take on these characters. Like if you're taking on a character of being a pastor, you're going to have to learn about being in the pulpit, learn more about the Bible. You take on these things and you research it, and I love to learn.

TeenHollywood: You played a hitman in Smokin' Aces. What did you learn about that?

Common: (Laughing) You know, that it's fun. No, but I guess I learned that the things that you do don't denote you being all bad. 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. Some people's background and what they've been exposed to is the reason why they end up being in those situations.

TeenHollywood: What about your tough guy character in Street Kings?

Common: 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, 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.

TeenHollywood: What happened when you drove through those areas? Did fans recognize you?

Common: One of the times it was on a police assignment. I was learning more about 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 (laughing). You just go in and observe. 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. I did go, just what I call touching down with the people there.

TeenHollywood: This is a very intense film. Did this set ever lighten up?

Common: I think definitely Cedric (the Entertainer) was the cat that would joke the most. I think it was a little dark on the set for me, to be honest. There was a lot of different things going on that was heavy - and me personally, I've got to stay in that zone and in character. I remember Cedric looking at me like, 'What is this fool doing?' But I'm over there doing my thing, doing my thing just to stay in character, you know? So it was more of a dark atmosphere. After the first day of playing this role, I went home and tried to find the lightest movie I could see. I went and saw Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer. Yeah, I guess I'll support Chris [Evans] too (laughing). After I just shot him, I needed to go see the film (laughing).

TeenHollywood: You don't have a rep as a hate rapper. Was this kind of darkness hard for you?

Common: When I first began acting and started studying, I would tell my teacher 'Man, I want to do some dark roles because I'm always viewed as the poet, the 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. For me, there's more challenge in it to do things that are different from who I am. 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.

TeenHollywood: Do most people know that you write children's books?

Common: (smiles) No, they don't know.

TeenHollywood: Where did that come from in your life?

Common: I have a daughter that's 10 years-old. And also I love the affect that music and art can have on the children. I love the results of seeing children singing songs and knowing that it really influences them and really impacts their lives. So I was like, 'Man, let me do these children's books that I feel like could be in a language and something that they would be interested in.' And I also felt even the children's books could be lessons that adults could get. I was taking stories that could be adult stories, but putting them in children form. Meaning like, love; lessons in love. That's something that I've got to be reminded of as an adult sometimes.

TeenHollywood: Wanted is based on graphic novels. Are you playing The Gunsmith?

Common: The Gunsmith is actually 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 we get a call and [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 but he wasn't in the graphic novel. It's totally original.

TeenHollywood: That movie just looks wild. What sort of crazy stuff are you doing?

Common: I'm really excited about that movie. It looks like something I've never seen before and there's great diversity in the cast. You've got Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, James McAvoy, Common...I think they chose some good people to be a part of it. 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 (laughing). Me working with Oscar winners is kind of like a dream in a way, to sit across the table and be doing a scene with Denzel Washington or like to go and do a reshoot with Morgan Freeman.

TeenHollywood: What did you do with Morgan?

Common: One of the scenes I was driving and he was in the back seat and so it was the reverse of like Driving Miss Daisy (laughing). I was driving Mr. Freeman. I want to surround myself with just that type of talent because I know that will help me to grow. That's the pedigree of artists that I want to work with. I feel like as a musician, I set a certain tone and set a certain integrity in the way I want to put art out. I want to do the same thing as an actor.

TeenHollywood: Are you working on your next album? Anything new?

Common: Oh yeah, some new shifts. Actually the new album is called 'Invincible Summer' and it will be out in the later part of June. The music just sounds newer. It's really developing. I'm really happy about it. It's not really heavy and it's Pharrell from The Neptunes and The Neptunes are producing a lot of it. And also a producer named Mr. DJ who did a lot of work for OutKast, did' Bombs Over Baghdad' and Ms. Jackson. These cats are really giving me some new, fresh sounds and I'm taking it somewhere vocally that I haven't been before. I'm enthused. I think it'll be a great summer album. As much as I want to make people think, it's important that they smile too.

TeenHollywood: There's a few club tunes in there too?

Common: Yeah. When I went out on the Kanye West tour, the Glow in the Dark tour in Europe, I got to see just people partying overseas. And hearing the music they party to, it just was a good feeling. I was like, 'Wait, none of my songs are getting played over here.' It's like, 'What am I missing in my music repertoire?' I think that was some of it. You always need music that's uplifting, that's conscience, but you also sometimes want to relax and party.

TeenHollywood: Your Common Ground Foundation, talk about that.

Common: You know hip hop is definitely a very great communicative form of art meaning kids respond to hip hop. Many nationalities just respond to hip hop all over the world. Hip hop is a culture. We use all these attractive things about hip hop to educate the youth. Our premise is to empower them, teach them about health, about self-love, educating them academically. And just also about community and entrepreneurship. Like, we give them a chance to create their own video. My children's books I think is a way of teaching through hip hop, too. I've learned a lot through artists like KRS-1.

TeenHollywood: How do you even have time to make movies?

Common: I've really focused on the movie side. I just look for the right next project and I keep working and auditioning and focus on that. And the music comes so naturally after that because when I'm working on something else, the music becomes freer. I'm expressing myself artistically over here, so it allows me to not put as much pressure on the music. And it's not my only source of income; it's not my only creative outlet. I think that's how the two work for me.

TeenHollywood: Is there a character or a person from history you'd like to play at some point?

Common: I would like to play like Gil Scott-Heron. I would love to play him. Honestly, like a good jazz musician like Thelonious Monk or something.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.