Curtis James Jackson III walks into a room in a swanky New York hotel with a diamond sparkling in his ear and a heavy watch shining on his wrist.
The hip hop mogul known as 50 Cent is a big man.
His arms have the seams of his dark brown suit almost bursting.
Yet it’s a delicate voice that answers questions on his life growing up as the son of a drug-dealing mother in the nearby borough of Queens, as well as those about his new film, Den of Thieves.
The film is about a group of hard-core criminals that compete with a group of corrupt cops to pull off a bank robbery. Do you think viewers will identify with both groups?
50 Cent: I think we all possess the ability to root for bad guys at time(s) because we all have the streak of a rebel in us - the ability to go against the rules that they set in front of us.
You portray Levi Enson, an ex-military man, who reaches his limits during a heist on the Federal Reserve Bank. You are also a husband and father in the film. Is this your first role as a family man?
50 Cent: Yes, and he’s flawed, obviously - he’s a bank robber.
The Enson character having a wife and five kids - it shows how some people are not conscious of their actions.
Why do you think that a former member of an elite military unit would become a bank robber?
50 Cent: We really escape in not having a destination.
Our society would say certain things are fit and certain things are unacceptable, like we decide we was gonna have chicken tonight.
We didn’t break the chicken’s neck and actually clean the chicken and make the chicken - we just have it come to our dinner tables in a box.
Do you prefer acting or rapping?
50 Cent: I love music. (So) I’ve been doing reading and the research to prepare myself for the film while doing music.
I have (had) these scripts long before ... six years ago.
Tell us about Gerard Butler. Since his role as Leonidas in 300, he has developed a reputation of having a vigorous workout routine to prepare for roles.
50 Cent: He gained over 11.3kg for the film. He’s in shape right now, when you see him, you can punch him in the stomach.
However, it’s a different kind of in-shape. It’s not the Leonidas, chopped-up in-shape, like that that’s almost six hours of work a day, he was training and then he had a body-builder.
Do you work out?
50 Cent: I do ... look, I’m sexier than him.
Would you say you are sexy in a natural kind of way?
50 Cent: I ain’t got six hours a day to do this s**t. I have to have a specific reason and when they pay me the cheque that they paid him to be in 300, I’ll do it! I will... do it!
* Den of Thieves is scheduled for release on February 2. It is the directorial debut of Christian Gudegast, the son of actor Eric Braeden. Gudegast previously turned heads as the screenwriter of 2003’s A Man Apart and the 2016 film London Has Fallen.