Interview: Tyrese Gibson on Will Smith, Transformers and “Death Race”

“I want to get a piece of ThunderCats. Yes, I need some ThunderCats in my life.”

Tyrese Gibson stars as Machine Gun Joe in Paul W.S. Anderson’s Death Race, revamping a role originated by Sylvester Stallone in Death Race 2000. He’s the main competitor of Jason Statham’s Jensen Ames in the psychotic pay-per-view automotive carnage festival, and it’s a darker role than you usually see him in. In this interview, he talks about his upcoming parts in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, his desire to play an anthropomorphic cat and the powerful effect being mentored by Will Smith has had on his life and his choice to put movies over his music career.

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Q: Tell us about your character in Death Race.
Tyrese Gibson: Machine Gun Joe is crazy. He’s wild. He’s unpredictable. There’s a lot of self-sabotage going on with that guy - he beats himself up a lot, you know what I mean? Every time he kills somebody, he slices his face, and you see the bruises right there. I mean, this dude is pretty crazy. He’s not really anticipating getting out of prison and yet at the same time he is, ’cause that is like a big fun world for him. And I am just really glad the Paul Anderson allowed me to go dark and have some real fun with this character.

Q: How did you sort of prepare of this character?
TG: I am going to be honest, man. I am not method actor, but I think I touched on a piece of method because I felt that this character is so deep and so dark that I had to stay in that space and I didn’t want anyone on the set or in the cast to look at me like I’m the nice guy that I really am. So, Jason, when you talk to him he’ll tell you there weren’t moments on the set when we were cracking jokes and having all this good energy. I was dark and heavy the whole time. Towards the last two in a half weeks of filming is when I finally got back into Tyrese mode and was actually cracking jokes and having fun on the set.

Q: Was that because the end was in sight?
TG: No, not that, because all of my heavy scenes were pretty much over - you know, where they had me cutting my face and all of these dark moments, you know what I mean? So, I had to stay in it. Plus, me playing a character that is in prison, I always looked forward to guys that were actually in prison telling me how I was running the prison yard. I had my crew with me and I had to demand my respect with my dudes behind me. They couldn’t look at me like I was some flimsy captain, you know what I mean?

Q: Will there be a sequel?
TG: There is going to be a sequel. I can almost guarantee that. I told Paul Anderson that this film should not be released in September, and I told him that this is a summer smash because it has all the components of something that the kids want to go out and see, and as soon as they moved in up to August 22nd, I was the first one to get a call.

Q: Have movies now become more of a priority for you than music?
TG: I was going to touch on that. I want to send all the love possible to my man, Will Smith. He played a huge role in me making some big, big changes in my life. I am no longer doing music. I am going to get back to music eventually, but I have done 14 years of music, 5 albums, and I really feel that at this point every blessing taken for granted becomes a curse. Everywhere I go, all of the feedback from the performances that I have been doing these films, big or small budget, I have always pretty much been accepting the love but not wholeheartedly accepting it, and I’ll be on the film looking forward to doing another album or doing another show, and it is just too much going on spiritually to be in such extreme creative spaces. So, I have never taken the movie thing seriously as much as I have the music. So with Will Smith taking me under his wing and telling me that “you’re that guy, you have what it takes to be the next guy.” I have been training with Will and I’ve lost 46 pounds. His trainer, Darrell Foster, is incredible.

Q: Did he say to you that you should really just concentrate on making movies?
TG: No, he didn’t say that. It was a decision that I made, because at the end of the day you have to pay attention to the people that have been brought into your life. If I had Jay-Z taking me under his wing and saying that I am going to rap on all of your singles and take you on tour with me and do what I got to do to put a stamp on your career on the music side, then I would stay in it. So, you have the biggest actor in the world who is training with you, and whenever I pass out when I am training, Will is the one reaching his hand out to put me back on my feet. It’s really special, and I really can’t even explain to you how it happened and why it happened, but it has happened and I really feel like it’s God-sent and I am definitely going to take advantage of it.

Q: What’s life like being 40 pounds lighter, and not having the bulk of you?
TG: Well, the thing is, I don’t want to get all emotional on you, but basically I lost focus. That’s all I could say - I lost focus and these film opportunities started coming so fast, you just start taking things for granted.

Q: Were you over-eating?
TG: I was enjoying life, but the thing is, when things start happening real fast - the opportunities, the phone calls - you just start taking things lightly and for granted and you just don’t want to work as hard. Once I got up with Will and his team, it was just crazy. The other side of it is, because I come from music, there was no one in my life that’s on some movie star shit, you know what I mean, nor had the mindset of what it takes to become a movie star, so to be around that camp and that entourage that only knows how to build and sharpen up someone to take them into that movie star level - it’ s just different conversations that I don’t know about. They are just telling you what’s around the corner before you get there, and it is just crazy because I am seeing the results. Instead of you begging and asking someone to give you more shine in the movie, if you show up ready on your A-game, it just happens.

Q: What is the deal with the Luke Cage movie?
TG: Well, we’ll see what happens with that. They have been tweaking that script for awhile. I think the anticipation for one of the first African-American comic book characters is a lot of pressure to get it right. You can just throw that film out there and mess around with it, because it is an African-American leading comic book character. That says it all. It’s a lot of pressure.

Q: Did you have a bigger part in the Transformers sequel?
TG: Yeah, yeah absolutely. I was just about to say that because I’ve lost the weight and because I’ve came with a whole other level of focus, Michael Bay has been throwing that camera on me something lovely and I’m taking pure advantage of it, trust me. You’ll see much more of Epps’ presence in this film. They have some cars that I can’t speak on, but they got some things in there that you won’t be seeing until 2011.

Q: Is there anything out there that you would like to get a piece of?
TG: I want to get a piece of ThunderCats.

Q: Seriously?
TG: Yes, I need some ThunderCats in my life.

Q: Who do you want to be?
TG: I don’t even care. I just want to be a part of that. That’s the stuff I am talking about.

Q: Are there any rumors that they are going to make that?
TG: I don’t know. I am just looking into that right now. We’ve got some calls into the ThunderCats. I love it.