FREELANCERS
Recently I had the chance to talk with 50 regarding his upcoming film “Freelancers” (which opened in select cities, including NYC and LA). With a supporting cast that features Robert De Niro, Forest Whitaker and Dana Delaney, this is one action-packed ride is yet another worthy offering in Jackson’s fast growing catalog of films. “Freelancers’ is a script I read that came to the office, people send stuff to the office all the time,” said 50 of how he came across the script. “Different agencies send stuff all the time and I just have to sit and look through them. It was one of the things that stood out to me.” Though Robert De Niro’s time on the screen is short, his role is impactful and he puts his special spin on it as well. It’s not like De Niro just works with anyone. I asked Jackson how he got De Niro to be a part of this endeavor. “How we got De Niro is, actually I already have a little relationship with him,” he explained. “The first project we were supposed to work on was a project called ‘Streets of Blood’, but I ended up going on and shooting that project with Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone. I did financing for the film at the time and that developed my appetite for producing a film as well. In my humble opinion, Forest Whitaker is one of the most underrated actors of the silver screen in modern history. He becomes each character in all every way noticeable. He walks differently, speaks differently even appears to have different morals. I had to ask 50 how was it for him to work with such a talent. “He’s amazing. There were points when we were doing scenes where I didn’t know if he had actually gotten drunk,” said Jackson. “After awhile I didn’t know if he was really drunk because he was in character the whole time. There’s a scene where I actually made a mistake of a physical nature. I actually hit him in the back of the head with the butt from a shotgun. Myself, I’m thinking ‘Oh sh*t! I didn’t mean to hit him with the actual shotgun!’ He went down and stayed in character the entire time. Then, after the director said cut, he said ‘What the f*ck is you doing?’ I was like ‘Yo, I’m sorry.’ He backed into me when I was actually swinging though. It’s really, really interesting being in the presence of that caliber talent. It was great. It was an amazing experience for me.”
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