In the new cop drama “Street Kings,” opening this Friday, April 11, from Fox Searchlight, Cedric the Entertainer and Common step out of their known arts of comedy and rap, respectively, to star as good bad guys.

The gritty film follows LAPD veteran cop Tom Ludlow (Keanu Reeves) when evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer and he must question the loyalties of everyone around him.

Ced plays street hustler Scribble that really can’t be categorized as a bad guy.

“Is Scribble really a bad guy? Kinda,” he said. “It really was a depiction of one of them guys that just hustles in the hood. I started developing the character as somebody who probably tried to sell some drugs, but it didn’t work out because he was too scared to be in jail, so he did the bootleg tapes, or the Gucci purses – it was still criminal, but it was more of those kind of in-the-hood ‘hustler-y’ things. For the most, he was a neighborhood dude. He wasn’t really a bad guy. He was one of those criminals that you like.”

 

Cedric The Entertainer

Cedric describes the film as a “grimy L.A. cop tale” that will have the audience guessing and second guessing who is on the right side. Still, although the movie is a serious drama, Ced can’t help but bring a bit of humorous representation to the flick.

“The opportunity to be seen in a movie like this – that’s not really a comedy – you try to bring a certain brightness to the film, and it goes in one direction,” he said. “I didn’t do the role to be funny, but when you pull up in an orange Cadillac, right off the top – you kind of know this guy is a quirky personality.”

The comedic actor told reporters that he had a great time doing the film especially with the stellar cast including Forest Whitaker, Keanu Reeves, and Hugh Laurie.

“[They] definitely have a different work process,” he said of the very serious dramatic stars. “Coming from that and doing ‘Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins’, which was all comedians for the most part. There was a lot of camaraderie and we couldn’t wait for the breaks so we could kick it and laugh. This one, everyone was going to their corner to find their space, trying to figure out where they are for the scene.”

“It was kind of like being a freshman at a school where everybody else is a senior and used to it, but you want to talk, and they're like, ‘Be cool,’” he joked.

Does the comedic actor think that these more serious roles will strip him of his ‘King of Comedy’ title? Not really, but he is working on expanding his range.

“I think I want to find the right pace to do it,” he said. “When you first see me, the natural inclination is that it’s going to be funny. [I can’t] try to be dark right off the top. I think I have to educate my audience step by step and do these roles that are a little different than the last time. Eventually I can find something that has all the dramatic nuances that allow me to stretch to a different place. I look forward to that.”

 

Common

Meanwhile, Ced's co-star, Common, revealed that he’d always wanted to play the more serious roles.

“You get what you ask for,” he said, telling reporters that when he first started acting that he said he wanted to do some dark roles. “Maybe I just needed to get it out of my system. I can’t just wild out and slap people so I guess I needed to do it as an actor and I wanted to show something different than what people view Common as.”

Common continued, however, that he is making an effort to make sure he’s not typecast. He’s already been pretty gritty with his “American Gangster” and “Smokin’ Aces” roles.

“I’m making it a point to make sure I show diversity because I would never want to be typecast and put in a box,” he said. “I’ve worked as an artist not to be put in a box and wouldn’t want that as an actor either. I see the broad world of acting. For me to enjoy it, I’d have to do diverse roles.”

Common also commented on how this cast has helped him hone his acting craft.

“With me being a new actor and knowing that humility is the truth, I’m just honored to work with people that achieved great success and have become international figures,” he said. “It was a good experience.”

The Chi-Town lyricist added that he is working to be a better actor and has never taken the fact that he has a great rap career to assume that he will be just as successful in film.

“What I do as an actor does not come from a rap background,” he said. “I had to work on being an actor. I learned, I studied, I watched old movies. I have to do the work that it takes to be an actor. Me being able to rap, it [helps] me only in the ways of me being used to being in front of crowds, but being a rapper is not going to make you a good actor. There’s a lot of whack rapper-actors.”

“I’m passionate about it,” he said of acting, “so I’m going to do my best.”

Common will be starring next in “Wanted” and is rumored to be cast in the upcoming “Justice League” as the Green Lantern.

For more on “Street Kings,” check the movie’s website at www.foxsearchlight.com/streetkings.