John Singleton keeps it real with 'Illegal Tender' - Reggaeton News

By Rebecca Louie, nydailynews.com

August 27, 2007

Back in the day, he was "Boyz N the Hood." Now John Singleton is The Man N the 'Wood.

The director/producer has seasoned his Hollywood chops since his 1991 drama "Boyz" earned him two Oscar nods, peppering his street salt with a pinch of politeness.

"I came in when I was 22 and kind of brash," says the 39-year-old, who remains the youngest Best Director nominee in Academy Awards history (he was 24 when he had a shot at Oscar for "Boyz") and is a producer on the crime flick "Illegal Tender."

"Coming from South Central and the streets, I used to feel like I had to shake everybody up because in Hollywood, people live in a vacuum.

"But that was youth. I've calmed down. If I don't have anything good to say, I don't say nothing. I just smile."

In the just-opened "Tender," a teen (Rick Gonzales) learns of his family's shady past when a Puerto Rican kingpin is determined to kill his mom (Wanda de Jesus). More than a shoot-'em-up, Singleton insists "Tender" is really about family.

"People get so mired in the whole voyeuristic thing of gangsters acting out, kicking everybody's a-, so a lot of filmmakers go for that," he says. "They don't go for the idea of family, which is what made 'The Godfather' so special. [In 'Tender'] this guy learns his mother is in danger and that supercedes everything else. He defends her. It's a sweet story, interestingly enough."

The film, set in the Bronx, Connecticut and Puerto Rico, thumps to a reggaeton soundtrack and features the genre's forefather, Tego Calderon, in his acting debut.

"I wanted to make a movie with a predominantly Latino cast," says Singleton, who was on set every day of production. "'Scarface' had Latinos ... played by Italians."

Two years ago, Singleton showed his prowess as a producer when he landed the Oscar-winning, gritty, hip-hop gold mine "Hustle & Flow" at the Sundance Film Festival. However, his racy followup "Black Snake Moan," by "Hustle" writer/director Craig Brewer, tanked at the box office. Singleton says the film, about an oversexed white girl tamed by a religious black man, is finally turning a profit on DVD.

"That movie's lurid, and I knew there wouldn't be people ramping to go to the movies to see it," he says, laughing. "They'd rent it or own it, the same people who [would go back in the day] to 42nd St. at 1 a.m. to buy ... whatever. Sex sells."

Singleton returns to the director's chair this fall for "Tulia," starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, based on the real-life arrest of black citizens in a Texas town. He's proud to add another African-American story to his body of work.

"I don't care if I'm known as 'the black director,' because you know what? Black people have come up with everything cool and hip about this country," he says. "So I'm like, 'Yeah, I am a black director.' I'm proud of being who I am."