After appearing on the Muscle & Fitness cover, 50 Cent puts his shirt back on and nabs another cover with "Southpaw" co-star Jake Gyllenhaal.
Fif has been busy promoting "Southpaw" with various daytime talk show appearances, but today he targets a different audience in "Southpaw" promotion, by covering the latest issue of VIBE magazine with Gyllenhaal. Take a look at the cover image and few photo shoot outtakes in the gallery above.
The interview finds the two going back and forth, as they discuss the upcoming film and more. Check out a few excerpts on that below.
"Southpaw" hits theatres on July 24th.
The movie is based on a lot of revenge because of what happened to your wife in the movie. Did you actually look at any revenge fights, like those famous rematches? What kind of fights were you looking at and did any stick out that you used for the film?
Jake: Well, that Ward [vs.] Gatti [2002] fight was a big one for us. I mean that was a fight that we referenced in the last fight of the film because that’s a fight of will, will, pure will. I don’t even know what that is at that point, but it’s something in a human being that you wish to know about yourself, but you never wish to know, do you know what I mean?
That was a big reference but at the same time, the last fight in particular is a fight about using anger but not using rage. Early in the movie, he’s a character who functions only on his rage–anger with violence–and throughout the movie, what he learns is how to use his anger, but without violence meaning he knows how to fight. He learns the techniques of fighting, how to box for real. With that knowledge, he can then when needed, like what 50 said when we talked to Floyd, he can then bring out that rage at times but not in a way that destroys his life.
Forest Whitaker character is poised. I think a lot of people will resonate with what he’s able to teach Billy.
Jake: When Forest’s character teaches Billy new techniques in the movie, he starts to tell him how to move his feet, use his feet, and slide. There’s a line where Billy says to him, ‘My wife would’ve liked you.’
50: At that point, it’s dawning on him. He’s telling me to slide my feet so I don’t get hit as much. It’s simplifying things. My grandfather, I made this reference earlier, he simplified his life. He said: ‘I’ma go to work and come home.’ They had so many kids. They’re from Aiken, South Carolina, had nine kids, and then he gave my grandmother the money. He just gave her a check. She took care of the bills. She took care of everything that was necessary for the kids and then come Monday, she’d give him money so he could go back and forth to work — and do what he needed to do. So it’s just simplifying things. It’s the same way Jake’s character is saying, ‘Let Maureen do it. That way I don’t mess it up.’ And then Maureen’s already training [Billy’s daughter], saying, ‘You know we have to look after your daddy,’ from the beginning.
