2 Fast 2 Furious was one of the biggest blockbuster car-related movies of all-time. According to a recent Grantland piece, Ja Rule turned down a main role in the film because he was getting “too big for himself.”
Author Thomas Golianopoulos recently spoke with the movie’s director, John Singleton about Ja missing out on his opportunity to be in the large-grossing film. Singleton says Ludacris eventually got the role, but only because the New York rapper turned down an initial $500,000 offer.
“Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars,” Singleton said when asked about 2 Fast 2 Furious. “He got 15 grand to be in the first movie. He was really big at that time. I guess Murder Inc. was throwing out hits and were making money hand over foot. He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn’t return calls. I went to the studio to go see him — that’s just my mantra, I deal with a lot of music people. He was kinda playing me to the side and I was like, ‘What? What is this shit?’ This was all initiated by me. I then made a call. I called Ludacris. I said, ‘Hey, Luda, I haven’t met you before, but I like what you’re doing right now.’ Luda was all humble, excited to meet me. I said, ‘I’m doing this movie and I’m wondering if you want to be a part of it.’ He goes, ‘What? Yeah! Anything you do I want to be a part of.’ That’s how Ludacris got in 2 Fast 2 Furious, and the rest is history.”
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John Singleton also explain how Ja Rule not taking the role impacted Ludacris’ life both in film and music.
“Ja Rule not doing 2 Fast 2 Furious changed Ludacris’ life,” Singleton said. “Years later I saw Ja Rule at the Source Awards and we joked about it. I took him under my arm and said, ‘Man, when I call you, you listen. I ain’t calling you for no bullshit.’ He said, ‘Yeah, man, I’m sorry about that.’ He apologized. I love Ja. I still think Ja has a lot of personality and can come back in a different way.”
Ja Rule played a role in the original Fast and the Furious, which spawned the successful movie franchise. Read the full Grantland piece here.
