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November 2007
FRED CLAUS
An Interview with Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges

FRED CLAUS
An Interview with Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges

By Wilson Morales

November 5, 2007

Besides Mos Def, no other rapper has such an impression in the acting field in the last few years than Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges. From his small role in ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’, to another small but prominent role in ‘Hustle & Flow’, to his performance in the Oscar winning film, ‘Crash’ and also his outstanding episodic work on ‘Law and Order; SVU’, Ludacris has elevated his game each time and continues to do so in different ways. Coming up for him next is his first comedy/ family film where he plays DJ Donnie the elf who works in the North Pole with Santa Claus in ‘Fred Claus’. Starring in the film are Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, and Kevin Spacey.

Not giving up on his day job, Ludacris is still working on his 6th album, which he plans to release next year. In speaking to blackfilm.com, Ludacris talks about doing his first comedy, working behind a blue screen and his fondest Christmas memory.


How was the process like working behind the blue screen?

Ludacris: That was my first time doing that. It was a little challenging but because I have rthytm it was a lot easier for an individual like myself, but it was fun because I kept laughing as I was doing it. It was a green screen and I had to look at the screen and mimic the movements of the actual little person so of course, so when Vince picked him up, I had to get on a chair. As far as the neck and the body, everything had to be coordinated the same way. It took me about two days to get everything right but it was a fun process. It was definitely hilarious for me. If anyone remembers the ‘Roll Out’ video, it’s sort of similar to this.


What was your reaction to seeing that for the first time?

Ludacris: Man, I was laughing even harder. They pitched my voice and made it even higher, so that was a funny element to it. Just the facial expressions I was making, sometimes I surprised myself, so to look at myself on screen, the scene was crazy.


What was the reason for taking this film?

Ludacris: I took on this role just because it was different from what I had done before. A lot of the roles that I have done have been serious roles from ‘Crash’ and ‘Hustle and Flow’, and even the episodes I’ve done on ‘Law and Order: SVU’ and this is my first comedy/ family film, I wanted to take my daughter to the movie and see this also. With that being said, when you look at some of the videos I’ve done, there’s comedy in there as well. I knew about the cast and I loved the script the first time I read it. It was laugh out loud funny.


How come you are not on the soundtrack?

Ludacris: When the credits are rolling, I did a remix to ‘Here comes Santa Claus’, so you can check that out, the Ludacris version. This is something worth staying in your seat for.


What’s going on with you musically?

Ludacris: I’m working on my 6th album called ‘Theater of the Mind’, and that should be out in 2008.


What other films do you have lined up?

Ludacris: My next film in the ‘RocknRolla’ film, which is also a Warner Bros. film and that comes out in the Fall of 2008.


What is the fondest memory you have of Christmas?

Ludacris: I was 6 years old and in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, I got up to go to the bathroom and I peeked in the living room and saw my father eating Santa’s cookies and milk and I was devastated and it was a traumatic experience for me and I’m still getting over to that til this day. I started asking a lot of questions from there and realized that Santa Claus was not real. It wasn’t a good Christmas year.


Did you base the DJ character on anyone?

Ludacris: It was written as DJ Donnie. I did a little ad-libbing just being myself but for the most part it was written the way it was. I didn’t have many choices of records to play because all I played was ‘Here comes Santa Claus’. I did use my previous DJ experience to come into that role.


Is there any particular song that if you heard it over and over again, you just want to kill someone?

Ludacris: Probably one of my songs like ‘Roll Out’ or something. It’s crazy to do a song and be happy to hear it on the radio, but sometimes you hear it too much and you don’t want to hear yourself anymore. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time.


With the film business booming for you, do you have plans to leave the music side?

Ludacris: When I’m like 45, I don’t plan on performing on BET or anything like that. The transition is being made where I’m getting into acting more, but I think I will be always be involved in music whether I’m behind the scenes or in front of the camera. That’s something that I love but the acting is where I want to see how I can go.


FRED CLAUS opens on November 9, 2007

 

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