Oop! #Socialites, do you agree? Rap legend and actor Ice-T says that playing a cop on TV and being a gangster in real life, or on TV as well, requires “the exact same acting” skills from someone.
During a recent appearance on ‘Drink Champs,’ Ice-T tells the show’s hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN that his gangsta rap background helped give him a smooth transition into acting as a cop on TV. The 65-year-old rap legend shed light on how his experience as a rapper kind of paved the way for him to become such a successful actor.
Just four years after dropping his big album ‘Rhyme Pays‘ (1987), Ice-T made his big screen debut in the 1991 movie ‘New Jack City.’ Starring alongside Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, born Tracy Lauren Marrow, took on the role of police detective “Scotty Appletonin.”
Then in 2000, the Hip-Hop icon would go on to play a New York Police Department (NYPD) detective named “Odafin Tutuola” in the NBC hit series ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.’
RELATED: Ice-T’s Wife Coco Austin’s Father Hospitalized With COVID-19
In his interview on ‘Drink Champs,’ host and fellow rapper N.O.R.E. asked Ice-T how he was able to take on the role of a detective in ‘New Jack City‘ when, at the time, he was a gangsta rapper. N.O.R.E. asked, “How do you study for that role? Because it’s the exact opposite of what you represent and who you are.”
Speaking on the transition, Ice-T admitted, “I was scared, N.O.R.E. I thought, like I said, it was career suicide. But then I got all my people saying, ‘Man, this is a chance.’ There’s no studying, you just act. Acting is make-believe … just act.”
RELATED: Ice-T Defends 5-Year-Old Daughter’s Full Set Nails
He continued to explain that portraying a cop on TV and being gangster in real life isn’t really that hard to pull off. He said both roles require the “exact same acting” skills, “Anybody in here can [do it]. We’ve all had enough experience with the cops. You can act like a cop.”
Ice-T further explained, “Like when I’m on ‘Law & Order,’ right before I do the scene, I just go ‘A**hole, a**hole, a**hole, a**hole.’ And then I talk down to you. But dig this, playing a cop and playing a gangster is the exact same acting. Exact same acting. We both got a gun, we both got an attitude, we both want answers, or there will be a consequence.”
#Socialites, be sure to check out the post below, then leave us your thoughts in a comment after!
View this post on Instagram