The Official will.i.am/John Wraith Discussion Thread

[mrsparkle]

He obviously auditioned for the part and impressed the big guys. I doubt they just went "Hey! Lets use this guy!".

 

[The Original Bamfer]

He obviously auditioned for the part and impressed the big guys. I doubt they just went "Hey! Lets use this guy!".

Yes!

 

[chamber-music]

He obviously auditioned for the part and impressed the big guys. I doubt they just went "Hey! Lets use this guy!".

I doubt it. I bet it was more like
Casting dude 1- "who do kids these days like?"

Casting Dude 2 -"How about the black dude who does all the rapping/singing in black eyed peas!"

Casting Dude 1-"Sure that will get more kids to see the movie, Whats his agents number?"

I find it hard to believe a trained famous or unfamous black actor didn't get picked over the leader of black eyed peas with no acting experience. His in the movie because his in a successful band not because his good actor.

 

[The Original Bamfer]

I'm just hoping will.i.am isn't credited as will.i.am.

 

[GL1]

The words 'Wolverine' and 'hip hop artist' should never be used in the same sentence imo

How the bad place did he get hired, there are actual good black actors that FOX can hire, he probably agreed to make the soundtrack for free, lol?

His part must be microscopic...nothing that might compromise the movie.

This is the first bad casting.

Actors belong in movies. Not rappers or musicians for that matter.

I liked Black Eyed Peas back in the day...but Will.i.am in a Wolverine movie? doesnt sound good..hopefully its not too big a part.

I hear a lot of ignorant baseless prejudice against hip hop. As though hip hop personalities don't become good actors:

Will Smith - awesome actor
Queen Latifah - Awesome actress
Mos Def - awesome actor
Common - great character actor
Ice Cube - Great comedy actor
LL Cool J - great character actor

This is in ADDITION to the dozens of hip hoppers who have turned in good watchable character roles (y'know, the kind that NEVER ruin movies): Coolio, Janet Jackson, Eminem, Ice T, Ludacris, Chris Brown, Eve, Alicia Keys, Tupac Shakur, Method Man, Red Man, etc... and that's in ADDITION to hip hoppers of little to no redeeming quality, presence or charisma who have happily turned in the cameos that some claim are the only acceptable way to go: Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Missy Elliott, Sean Combs, Busta Rhymes, etc.

Should I even go into other music styles Mandy Moore in Saved, or Bruce Willis' R&B Career? (Yes, seriously) Maybe everyone else can just accept it, but the world I live in doesn't allow much room for "Oh, he's in hip hop? He must suck at acting!"

Will.i.am has a great deal of charisma, and he does have some acting experience. The only reason to instantly conclude that he is a bad choice as many WTFers have, is baseless, ignorant prejudice against hip hop, that has nothing to do with rational thought, logic or reality. Wake up and smell the remix, kids. Hip Hop artists have been good actors for years and years.

I could see if it were someone with no talent or presence, like a 50 Cent, or a Snoop Dogg... but Will? Watching the way he perform on stage, I think he can do it. He's nearly as charismatic as Hollywood's current favorite Will.

This particular quote has a special concentrated level of ignorance, so I need to highlight it:

They could have picked any number of black actors for this role yet they as usual pick a stupid rap/hip hop performer.

Yeah... that's why Sam Jackson, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Forrest Whitaker, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Colombus Short and Cuba Gooding Jr are unheard of. Eddie Murphy. Jamie Foxx. Taye Diggs. Chris Rock. Chris Tucker. Omar Epps. Tyler Perry and his crew. They're always hiring performers from that stupid genre that I don't like.

Where are you from... like... what planet?

You did actually note that these people are performs, and many of them are living out professionally constructed hip-hop personalities and images. They have much more acting and improv experience than they are often given credit for.

He obviously auditioned for the part and impressed the big guys. I doubt they just went "Hey! Lets use this guy!".

Thank you. That's a rational, logical observation. Even though I don't think it takes much to impress Fox, as long as they see some contrived path to dollar signs, at least there's a rational logical observation here. Thank you.

 

[X-Maniac]

And the complaining continues. It feels like X3 all over again! Yay!

 

[TNC9852002]

Black rappers haven't destroyed a comic book film since...

....

Ummm...

Hmmm..
....... Heh, Coolio was pretty cool in Daredevil!...eh.


I don't think there's really anything to worry about here. Let's just accept it and just hope that he does well.

-TNC

 

[GL1]

Coolio was in Daredevil! I forgot about that! I was thinking about Dangerous Minds...

 

[the a1ant]

I'm liking the casting choice so far. I think he'll do great. Many rappers can act: Ice Cube, Will Smith, T.I., Common, Mos Def, Bow Wow, RZA, LL, Coolio and Eminem.

 

[danoyse]

Excellent points, GL1. It's also worth pointing out that Will Smith and Queen Latifiah are also Academy Award-nominated performers (twice in Will's case). Mos Def is an acclaimed poet, and Eminem has won an Oscar for the title song to 8 Mile. Hardly just some 'dumb' rappers and hip-hop artists.

And on the other end of the spectrum, keep in mind that Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, is an award-winning musical theater performer. Hardly the guy you'd picture playing Wolverine if you've seen any of his stage roles...but he's great in both mediums.

 

[logansoldcigar]

He obviously auditioned for the part and impressed the big guys. I doubt they just went "Hey! Lets use this guy!".

One wopuld hope that was the case. being a rapper is no judge of if someone is a good actor or not. Most are Ive seen are average. Chris Bridges was pretty good in crash, and Mos Def was quite brilliant in the Woodsman

the one thing that is that nagging feeling in the back of your head. as i say, one would hope he screen tested and auditioned well, but..like a mantra, the voice keeps saying..its fox...its fox.....its fox.

against that, are Black eyed peas really a big enough name that they would cast him because of his musical connections?

 

[narrows101]

Excellent points, GL1. It's also worth pointing out that Will Smith and Queen Latifiah are also Academy Award-nominated performers (twice in Will's case). Mos Def is an acclaimed poet, and Eminem has won an Oscar for the title song to 8 Mile. Hardly just some 'dumb' rappers and hip-hop artists.

And on the other end of the spectrum, keep in mind that Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, is an award-winning musical theater performer. Hardly the guy you'd picture playing Wolverine if you've seen any of his stage roles...but he's great in both mediums.

Since we're talking about awards I'll just add to the list that besides Hugh, Liev Schreiber is also a Tony Award winning actor.

 

[Jamie Madrox]

This is stupid. There are plenty of African American actors out there just waiting for their big break, and they cast Will.I.Am?

What the crap were they thinking?

 

[Congo Jack]

I'm just hoping will.i.am isn't credited as will.i.am.

You and me both. In fact, does anyone know his real name so I can stop calling him that?

 

[The Original Bamfer]

I'm willing to bet his first name's William.

 

[narrows101]

His real name is William James Adams Jr.

 

[Congo Jack]

I'm willing to bet his first name's William.

Hmmm...I'll take that bet!

...

His real name is William James Adams Jr. for anyone who cares...

 

[The Major]

*sigh*

They really should start hiring actors for roles. Crazy idea, I know.

If Will.I.Am wants to act so bad I'm sure has many minor roles in other low profile films until his skill is up for the big projects like this.

 

[The Major]

He obviously auditioned for the part and impressed the big guys. I doubt they just went "Hey! Lets use this guy!".

This is Hollywood here.

I wouldn't say it's impossible that happened.

 

[Nightmare]

I doubt he'll have a huge part. Im thinking he'll just be kind of a lacky with not a lot of lines. Atleast thats what im hoping

 

[The Major]

Excellent points, GL1. It's also worth pointing out that Will Smith and Queen Latifiah are also Academy Award-nominated performers (twice in Will's case). Mos Def is an acclaimed poet, and Eminem has won an Oscar for the title song to 8 Mile. Hardly just some 'dumb' rappers and hip-hop artists.

Will Smith had a long running hit sitcom before he was a movie star.

Latifah had several minor roles before getting starring roles. None of them were massive franchises like Wolverine.

Enimem was basically playing himself in a movie inspired by his own life.

Mos Def was trained in theatre at NYU. He had been acting professionally since he was 14 years old in two sitcoms followed by very minor roles in big movies.

What resume does Will.I.Am bring that matches any of theirs?

And on the other end of the spectrum, keep in mind that Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman, is an award-winning musical theater performer. Hardly the guy you'd picture playing Wolverine if you've seen any of his stage roles...but he's great in both mediums.

He wasn't a rookie actor before getting cast as Wolverine.

Musical theatre doesn't equal rap.

 

[X-Maniac]

Quit whining. He's been cast. Smile or hit the valium.

 

[the a1ant]

One wopuld hope that was the case. being a rapper is no judge of if someone is a good actor or not. Most are Ive seen are average. Chris Bridges was pretty good in crash, and Mos Def was quite brilliant in the Woodsman

the one thing that is that nagging feeling in the back of your head. as i say, one would hope he screen tested and auditioned well, but..like a mantra, the voice keeps saying..its fox...its fox.....its fox.

against that, are Black eyed peas really a big enough name that they would cast him because of his musical connections?

The Black Eyed Peas are huge with the MTV crowd, and will.i.am is an in-demand music producer. I doubt Fox casted him on that alone, though. People aren't going to rush to the theaters just because he's in it. It's likely his acting skills which got him the part.

 

[danoyse]

Quit whining. He's been cast. Smile or hit the valium.

And we have 15 more months of this. Won't this be fun?

 

[DJSCARLET]

even after the movie shows there are gonna be people who are going to be complaining about major/minor details.
so look foward to that too! ^_-