Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Snoop Dogg might go mainstream with movies BY BARRY KOLTNOW KKT CAMPUS MARINA DEL REY, CALIF. - Now that Hollywood bad boys Sean Penn and Johnny Depp have been embraced by the movie industry, one wonders if there is hope for a bad b6y rapper like Snoop Dogg. After all, bad boys from the mu sic world operate on a different level than their movie counter parts. Penn has lost his temper and thrown a few punches at photog raphers. Depp once trashed a ho tel room. Snoop, on the other hand, is a former gang member who served time in jail for dealing cocaine and spent three years defending him self against a murder rap. In comparison, Penn and the oc casionally naughty Depp look a bit tame. But Snoop, who stars as the flamboyant informant Huggy Bear opposite Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson in the action/comedy “Starsky & Hutch,” says he has cleaned up his act. He is a model citizen who coaches his 9-year-old . son's football team like any sub urban dad. It looks as if Snoop has gone respectable. Yet there remains some of the street in. Snoop, which does help him in his music world. It gives him credibility with fans. But will it hurt or help him in his movie world? A case in point is an incident during his new movie’s marketing campaign. When a studio representative led a reporter to Snoop's hotel suite at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Marina Del Rey, the reporter was told to wait while the studio rep whispered something in Snoop's bodyguard's ear. The only word the reporter could hear was “smoking,” lead ing to an assumption that she wanted the bodyguard to remind ' Snoop not to do anything out of the ordinary in front of the reporter. Apparently, music bad boys don't like to be told what they can do in front of reporters. As soon as Snoop and the re . porter sat down, and while the stu dio rep was still in the room, an assistant walked in from the bed room and dumped a bag of what appeared to be marijuana on the coffee table. Snoop started to roll a joint, and continued to roll joints for the next 30 minutes. It should be noted that Snoop did not smoke anything during this interview. He just kept rolling along. Director Todd Phillips, who not only worked with Snoop on this movie but directed him in “Old School” as well, said he has seen nothing of the bad-boy image Snoop has helped to foster in his music and videos. Mayoe in tne past ne was line that,” the director said, “but the Snoop I know now is a hard-work ing actor who shows up at the set at 7 a.m. with his lines memorized. He takes acting as seriously as any actor I’ve worked with. He is the last guy I'd call a bad boy.” Phillips said he expects Snoop to be a major movie star one day. “Listen, my 6-year-old loves Snoop, and my mom loves Snoop. He's got that something special that crosses all boundaries. The magnetism that has made him a musical icon definitely translates to the big screen,” he said. During this interview, the soft spoken Snoop, 31, talked about football, his acting ambitions, why he stopped using drugs and, most important, why he was rolling those cigar-sized joints. Q: I thought you were straight now. A: I am. I'm just rolling these for my partner. I know how to roll good, so I'm rolling. Q: What did you think of the original Huggy Bear, Antonio Fargas? A: Antonio was slick, man. But he was limited because TV in the '70s had restrictions and limita tions. By working in 2004,1 can bring some extra flavor to the role. I can give the character a lot of depth. Q: Despite the limitations, do you think the character of Huggy Bear was an asset to the black community? A: Huggy Bear was fly for his time. That's why I wanted to add my flavor to make him way more relevant than what he was, but at the same time, pay homage to Antonio. You dig, man? Q: How's your son's football team doing? A: We went real far; we went to the second round of the playoffs. Q: You played a little football, didn't you? A: Yeah, I still play on the Snoop Dogg All-Stars. It's a semi-pro team. Q: What position do you play? A: Wide receiver. Q: Do you think you could have played pro ball? A: Oh yeah. Q: Seriously? A: Hell, yes. There isn't much I can’t do. Q: You really believe that, don't you? A: I'm a firm believer in that there isn't much I can't do. Q: And that includes acting? A: I want to step my caliber of acting up. I'm looking forward to working with the best. I want to work in great movies with great actors and great directors. Q: Will Hollywood let you step up? A: They're gonna have to. Q: How do you go about doing that? A: Hollywood is a small place, and you hear about things. So, when you hear about something, you have to.go impress the guy you need to impress. Whether it's the director, the producer or the film company, you have to make an impression. I know how to im press people. Q: Do you do this alone? A: No, I've got a management team now who's out scouting for me. They put their best foot for ward to represent Snoop Dogg. Q: Would you ever give up rap ping for acting? A: Never. Q: Never? A: I might leave it alone for a while. I might say, “I don't want to make a record this year or next year, and just concentrate on movies.” Q: So you are willing to put aside the music temporarily? A: If the right situation comes along. If I get a three-picture deal, and they're three good pictures, with real directors and a real cast attached, I'd do it. Q: Your next film is a comedy based on the classic “Airplane” movie. It looks like you're set in comedies right now. A: I'm doing what's fun right now. But I'm looking for more challenging dramatic roles. I'd like to play a serial killer. I want to play someone like Hannibal Lecter. Q: Why bother with acting? You're already a music legend. A: It's a bigger stage. It's also a challenge. In rapping, no one tells me what to do. But in acting, you have to work with other people. You get directed and coached, and you're never too old to be coached. Q: So you're willing to give up the total control you have in rap ping? A: Absolutely, especially when the people know their craft and can help you. Q: And you're convinced it's go ing to happen? A: It's already happening. I'm starting to get the top-notch peo ple. Q: Why did you clean up? A: Why not? Sometimes you have to in life. I drink water now. You have to take care of your body. My schedule's so busy that my body has to work for me. Q: How did this happen? Was there a revelation or something? A: I had a conversation with Charlie Wilson from the Gap Band. He said, “Cousin, I see you going places, I see you going to the mountaintop. But you need your vision clear for once.” I had been smoking for 10 years straight, but for him to say that to me and care so much about me, I had to do something. Everybody else just tells me to keep doing what I'm do ing. Q: How did you feel physically when you cleaned up? A: The first week I felt bad. After a month, I felt great. Q: How did it affect you cre atively? A: I was able to focus more. Q: Did it affect your relation ship with your son? A: Absolutely. I paid more at tention to him. Before, I paid no attention to him. I left for work and came home from work. Coaching football gave us more time together and helped us bond. I was able to get inside his mind and heart. I got to understand my son. Q: And did you like what you found? A: He's a great kid. ——■—paw umb as ias ■ — ———— i PHOTO COURTESY OF KRT CAMPUS Vince Vaughn and Snoop Dogg appear In Warner Bros. Pictures' “Starsky & Hutch,” which opened Feb. 27. Piracy CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 ResNet. “Kazaa is not blocked from ResNet's point of view,” Mangrum said. “We limit the per centage of the network that can be used for peer-to-peer down loading to 15 to 20 percent. Then the campus has its own restric tions [on peer-to-peer download ing].” The association does not have plans to sue people like the music industry has, Grossman said. Grossman said the association has worked with the FBI to catch crim inals engaging in a number of pi rating activities, ranging from dis tributing bootlegged screeners to sneaking camcorders into the aters. “Right now, the estimate of the damage of hard-goods piracy is about $3.5 billion per year,” Grossman said. Grossman said a lot of the asso ciation's advertising, such as the television ad that ran on 30 net works simultaneously, was do nated because the networks sup ported the cause of generating dis cussion on piracy. Creating aware ness is a far bigger focus for the association than collecting dam ages from individuals like the mu sic industry is doing, Grossman said. “We like to keep our options open for the future,” Grossman said. “We hope we're not going to find ourselves in (the position of the music industry), but that de pends on how the trend grows,; doesn't grow.” i Rental Rates Now Reduced!! Deposit i 4 fZISUH L •Restrictions may apply w \ One Month Free . STEW ING UNIVERSITY 215 Spencer Place * 739-0899 www.sterlinghousing.com