Celeb Row

Whether he’s rapping, producing music, acting or overseeing his foundation, Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges does everything with passion. He appears in the recently released basketball film Ball Don’t Lie, where he got a chance to show off his well-honed acting skills. Next up, the movie Gamer with Gerard Butler and Kyra Sedgwick, due for release on September 4. Although he’s busy working on his next CD, he says he is available on a moment’s notice if President Barack Obama needs a guard for a pick-up game at the White House.

What intrigued you about Ball Don’t Lie?
I’m always looking for roles different than what I did before because I hate to be typecast. I’m choosing roles that are going to help me out with the craft of acting before I take on a lead role. The storyline intrigued me; with the foster care kid and me playing someone who worked inside a foster care facility. Of course, [also] the whole basketball subject matter.

Your character is the one who first gets the lead character, Sticky, to play. What do you think he hoped Sticky would find in the game?
He’s going through so much emotionally, I just want him to find love. If basketball is the first time he finds love, at least he’ll know what to connect certain emotions to when he needs to love something else.

What do you enjoy about acting that is separate and apart from your career as a musician?
It’s therapeutic to act because you get permission to do a lot of things that maybe you shouldn’t do every day. For instance, if you get to curse somebody out or get to do an acting scene where you’re whooping somebody’s [butt], it’s just as therapeutic to do that as if you were doing it for real. You have an excuse and you actually get paid to do it! What more could you want out of life?

What do you find special about the vibe of being on the court and playing pick up with your friends or even with guys you don’t know except for basketball?
It’s all about the competitive nature of the sport because life is competitive. It’s all about who wants it the most. How much you’re going to practice in order to get better. Teamwork. There are so many different values that you can learn from basketball.

Are the Atlanta Hawks your team?
Of course, I’m not a fair weather fan. I’m going to ride with them to the death. It might take a couple of years to try to make sure we regroup.

Courtside or box?
I like courtside seats, so you can see all the action right in front of you. And you can hear all the players talk trash to each other.

Do you ever hear your music played at games?
All the time. I’m very blessed and very happy to hear some of my music playing at such a competitive sport because music is just as competitive as basketball.

Within music, you’ve sort of created your own team. Do team dynamics you’ve learned from basketball pervade how you run your music label, Disturbing the Peace (an imprint of Def Jam Recordings)?
Basketball teaches you values and teamwork is one of the most important ones. If you notice, whenever two teams compete against one another, at the end, all the players usually slap five and make sure they show each other love. That’s a good thing for the kids to see. Once the game begins, everybody has got their game face on and they’re playing to win. It’s important you understand teamwork is extremely important. Getting a triple-double is more important than scoring 50 and 60 points. It’s about passing the ball. It’s about assists. It’s about all these different things people should do in real life.

From the May/June, 2009 issue