S. Samuel
Rapper-turned-actor Common recently spoke on the possiblity of having a role in the upcoming A-Team film and described his anticipation of giving Mr. T's character a fresh look.
Keeping details to a minimum, the Chi-town emcee weighed in on the project’s current status.
“I can’t speak on it yet until we know what’s going on but that would be an incredible character to play,” Common explained. “I can’t do the Mohawk but we got to do something, we got to find something to make it work… I would love to [do it], just to work with Joe [Carnahan] is so exciting…You know you need to keep your pace and patience and let things develop… I want it to be as diverse as possible, [but] first of all I don’t want to act like I’ve been given the role of B.A. So let me be honest about that…[But] it’s great to be in those talks…You definetly have to give it something different [than what Mr. T did]… It’s a new day, you just got to give it something new. The kids don’t know that B.A. so you wanna bring something new to it and you want to pay respect to B.A. and the way B.A was created, too. I believe there is a way to find a combination, I have certain similarities to Mr. T already. We are both from Chicago, we are both rebels in our own way. I could really get that, I could really get that.” (IESB)
Ice Cube previously said he was being considered to star in the film.
“They want me to do it if all the business works out right,” he said in an interview. “I was a fan as a kid and that would be, not a dream come true, but it’s definitely a good thing to do and I would put it on my resume for sure…I wouldn’t try to duplicate what Mr. T did, but I will have the same impact on you as when you were little watching the TV show. I’m going to bring my own flavor to it and I am going to do the Mohawk.” (Black Film)
The film’s producers and director were confirmed earlier this year.
The studio has set Joe Carnahan to direct and Ridley Scott to produce, with Tony Scott executive producing through their Scott Free banner. Also producing are Jules Daly and Stephen J. Cannell, the latter of whom created the original TV series. Carnahan will team with Brian Bloom to polish a script by Skip Woods. The intention is to start production by June for a June 11, 2010, release. (Coming Soon)
Certain aspects from the original series will be changed.
Carnahan and the Scott brothers say they will use the original premise of the series as the template for an action film. In the original, four Vietnam vets convicted of armed robbery escape from military prison and became do-gooder mercenaries. The Middle East will replace Vietnam as the place the four did their tour of duty, but Carnahan said the origin story is the jumping-off point. (The Hollywood News)
