Snoop Dogg is headed to the movies once again with his latest film, The Underdoggs, releasing January 26 via Amazon prime.
LISTEN NOW: Snoop Dogg and Tike Sumpter take us behind the scenes of new movie, ‘The Underdoggs’
Playing the part of Jaycen "Two Js" Jennings, a washed-up former pro football player sentenced to community service coaching a pee-wee football team in his community, Snoop says fans will see his acting skills at an all-time high as his character is nothing like him… at least in the beginning.
“The beginning is not me,” Snoop told Audacy’s The Big Tigger Morning Show of playing the part of Jennings. “But, I love the fact that I can jump into a character to make people believe that this is Jaycen Jennings.” He continued, “You love Snoop Dogg, but you hate Jaycen Jennings in the first 45 minutes of the movie. That’s the key - to make you understand that I’m playing a character that I want you to believe is real.”
While his character may not align directly with the Snoop D-O-Double-G we know and love, the message is one that is near and dear to the rapper.
“The football thing has always been dear to my heart,” he said. “I wanted to tell some stories of some kids that have affected me and then I wanted to tell the story of a successful player who forgot where he came from and all of the things that keeps you rooted.” He continued, “To find the right script [and] the right situation was the first part, but then to find the right cast and to find the right people of the ensemble that could shoot it and make it make sense. I felt good about it.”
One member of the cast helping Snoop tell the story is co-star, Tika Sumpter, who plays the part of Cherise, Snoop’s love interest in the film. “When she became my love interest, that really made me feel good because our chemistry is beautiful,” Snoop said.
Tika added, “It feels like family coming back, it was like a reunion on set. We just laughed and I feel like the camaraderie, the love — I feel like it was all left on the screen because we actually cultivated that for real.”
Light, love, and laughter were definitely key elements Snoop wanted portrayed across the movie’s message, but it didn’t stop him from keeping things a little rough around the edges as he wanted to keep things “real.”
“It’s part of the world we livin’ in right now,” Snoop said of the regular foul language used in the movie. “I wanted the kids to be able to watch something where they can say, ‘Wow, that feels like me,’ or ‘I know somebody like that.’ Not some watered down version of what actually happens in the hood. It’s just language, but it’s the message, It’s not what you say, unless you’re saying something that don’t make sense.”
Hear more about Snoop and Tika’s characters by listening to their conversation with Audacy’s The Big Tigger Morning show above, and for more about the movie, check out director Charles Stone III’s interview with the show below.
LISTEN NOW: Director Charles Stone III talks ‘The Underdoggs’ with ‘The Big Tigger Morning Show’