This trend is particularly obvious among rappers, with 50 Cent, Eminem and T.I. appearing in movies in recent years. However, there're some other actors who are doing the acting thing and doing it well, and here are my faves:
10. Ice T. I practically grew up seeing Ice T in movies, since he started dabbling in acting since 1984's Breakin'. New Jack City and a host of other movies followed. These days, he's honing his acting skills on television on Law and Order.
9. Eve. Although Evie Eve is perhaps best known on screen from the Barbershop movies, she has had parts in the little seen The Woodsman, The Cookout and the first XXX movie. She's not the strongest of actors but she has a lot of spunk and her roles can only keep getting better.
8. Common. There ain't nothing common about Common. Although he's relatively new to movies he's a veteran in the rap game, and has an onscreen presence that many other actors would envy. He owned his scenes in Smokin' Aces, and I can't wait to see him in action in the upcoming Night Watchman, Wanted and American Gangster. He ain't hard to watch, period....
7. Ludacris. I wasn't overly impressed with Ludacris in 2Fast 2Furious , but I sat up and took notice of his skills in Crash, where he played a philosophical thief, and Hustle and Flow, where he was an over-the-top entertainer. Come to think of it, he was way too good in that role to be acting....
6. DMX. Although I'm not toally sold on DMX as an actor, he nevertheless made some half-way entertaining movies, such as Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 the Grave and Never Die Alone. Now, if only he would get some therapy he'd be a force to be reckoned with....
5. Snoop Dogg. Snoop has made a career out of his pot-smoking, cadillac driving persona, and while I don't approve of everything he does, he's a natural actor. His roles in Baby Boy, Training Day and Starsky and Hutch are some of my favourites, though he better not make another Soul Plane movie....
4. Ice Cube. As cool as his moniker suggests, Ice Cube has tried it all: drama (Boyz N the Hood, Higher Learning); action (XXX 2, Three Kings, Anaconda); and comedy (Are We There Yet?, Are We Done Yet, Friday, Next Friday, Friday After Next). The only thing left is romantic comedies, or is he too cool for that?
3. LL Cool J. Before LL Cool J came along in Deep Blue Sea, it was always the black guy who died first in horror movies. Not only did he survive but he blew the heck outa that shark too. His résumé includes In Too Deep, Any Given Sunday, Charlie's Angels, Rollerball, Deliver Us From Eva, SWAT, Mindhunters and Last Holiday. He needs more roles...preferably where he gets to take off his shirt....
2. Queen Latifah. Dana Owens has lived up to her nickname, and is true royalty whether behind the mike or in front of the camera. From the days of Living Single we knew she could act, but she really stepped up her game in Set It Off and got people talking. The Bone Collector, Barbershop, Taxi, Beauty Shop, Last Holiday, Bringing Down the House and more followed. She was nominated for an Oscar for Chicago and critical acclaim is coming in for Hairspray. Long live the Queen!
1. Will Smith. Who else could take the number one spot but the Fresh Prince himself? He has the patent for the rapper to movie star transition down pat. He took a big chance as a gay character in Six Degrees of Separation, and did his action man thing in hits such as Independence Day, Bad Boys 1 and 2, Men in Black 1 and 2, I, Robot, Enemy of the State and Wild Wild West; got romantic in Hitch; and got nominated for Oscars in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness. And just the other day I was singing along to Parents of Today Just Don't Understand....
Honourable mention - Tupac Shakur. Gone too soon for sure, we saw glimpses of Tupac's thespian ability in Juice, Poetic Justice and Above the Rim. Rest in peace, bro.
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