RZA on Acting, the Future of a Wu-Tang Biopic and Why Police Brutality Is a 'Sensitive Situation'
RZA of Wu-Tang Clan performs on stage during the 2015 Riot Fest
at Downsview Park on Sept. 20, 2015 in Toronto, Canada.
Martin Shkreli may be the only person to ever hear
RZA's work on
Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, the one-of-a-kind, $2 million
Wu-Tang Clan
LP. The MC-producer is guaranteed a bigger audience soon, however --
just not for his music. RZA, 46, stars as a hitman with a heart of gold
in
Mr. Right (out April 8 from Focus World) with Anna Kendrick and is directing
Coco (Lionsgate), starring
Azealia Banks
as a poet turned rapper. The Wu-Tang legend spoke with Billboard about
his Hollywood-heavy 2016, the prospect of a Wu-Tang biopic and his
controversial comments about police brutality.
Mr. Right is a new look for you: It's half action, half rom-com, and you play a good guy. What attracted you to it?
Every
time I choose characters it's therapy, and this one seemed like a
different release for me. He's a quirky, awkward guy. The director [Paco
Cabezas] told me, "You look too menacing." They changed all the makeup
and cut off my sideburns, but I still had my goatee. He said, "No, you
still
look too menacing." I'm like, "Alright, whatever you want, baby, let's
just do it." So they shaved my whole face! I haven't had a full shave
in forever. It was funny how soft I felt. (
Laughs.)
What's up with a musical collaboration with Anna?
"Pitch Perfect 3: Tone Deaf!" (
Laughs.) She's a sweetheart.
Have any updates on Coco?
It's in
postproduction; we'll get it out this year. It's a really cool film;
it's a very different approach. I like the question we ask in it: Is
hip-hop poetry? Should we study it in school? Should we study the lyrics
of
Nas and Wu-Tang in school? I like the debate it sparks.
After the success of Straight Outta Compton, will there be a Wu-Tang film?
Yes,
but it's not easy. I've been having conversations with some people, so
we'll see if that's something we can tie together. I think it would be a
blessing for American culture. It is really an against the odds story.
You're talking about guys with felonies on their records, you know what I
mean? Not that that's something to brag about, but that's something to
understand: When I was growing up they said that a black man in America
would be dead or in jail by 25, especially if he doesn't have a high
school diploma. But we didn't become the statistic. I think it’s
important to understand that there is a way out; determination and focus
can beat the odds.
Between Straight Outta Compton, Empire, VH1's The Breaks
and the upcoming Tupac biopic, there's been a surge of hip-hop-related
film and TV projects. Do you think that will continue to grow, or is it a
bubble that's about to burst?
Hopefully yes, it will
continue. Hip-hop has been a big part of our culture. You got to think
about how far we are from the '90s now, from the '80s -- hip-hop has
been a dominant force in music for over 20 years. And you have stories
of pioneers that the public may not know. It's just like if you watch
[the 2008 film]
Cadillac Records. I wasn't 100 percent knowledgeable about some of the early pioneers of rock'n'roll, and to find out what
Etta James was like was amazing. So I think there should be more, I think there will be more.
Straight Outta Compton
was a great film to prove the marketability of it, the value of it. It
wasn't just a film that was just for hip-hop, it also got an Oscar
nomination, the box-office success was tremendous, and it actually made
some noise internationally, where they thought hip-hop, or black films,
weren't able to do so. Hip-hop is prime now.
Last year you were criticized for comments you made about police brutality,
which seemed to place some blame on the victims. Do you want to clarify
them more? You've had a long history of speaking out against racism and
police brutality. Do you think you were misunderstood?
Yeah,
I would say so. First and foremost, I was a father talking about what
he tells his son. I'm saying it out of my experience: You know, don't
wear your hat backwards, even though when I was young I wore my hat
backwards. But what I experienced, I want my son to escape. I'm not
going to let my son touch a hot stove -- you may burn yourself! Why
repeat bad history? I was talking about my son preparing himself for the
world and understanding the difficulties he got to face. But I would
never say that this is going to stop [police brutality]. To stop it, the
perpetrator has to stop his evil. But still, the victim has got to
understand what he attracts, you know what I mean? I want my son to
understand: Don't fit no description. Whether it's people watching on
TV, or a judge in the courtroom, they don't know you -- all they know is
the image in front of them. So, I was taken out of context, but I
understand it's a sensitive situation because people are dying and their
families are being broken and our community is suffering. I'm not
justifying none of that -- I'm just talking about my son.
