Gerard Butler and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson star alongside each other in an upcoming action movie “Den of Thieves.” in theaters January 19th.
We had a chance to sit down with the stars of the upcoming Christian Gudegast movie, Den of Thieves, Gerard Butler, who also served as an Executive Producer, and Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.
The story follows the lives of an elite unit of the LA County Sheriff’s Department, calling themselves “Regulators,” and the state’s most successful bank robbery crew as the outlaws plan a seemingly impossible heist on the Federal Reserve Bank. Both Butler’s and Jackson’s character stand on the opposite sides of the law, however, there are more similarities between the two than one could expect. Check out the video and the full interview below.
Magdalena Bury: How was it working on it with each other and with the director? Can you tell me a little bit about it?
Curtis Jackson: It’s exciting working with him, ’cause I’m a big fan of his work. There’s certain things, not all of it, but he plays really aggressive characters. I really could get with Gerard’s choices. I really get into it. When I realized he was gonna play the Big Nick character I was like, “This is gonna be really fucking good.” I had read the script six years ago. I didn’t know Gerard had it at that point, but I just knew that it was one of the best scripts that had came in at that time period. And then later, when it comes around full circle and then Gerard’s producing the film with Tucker Tooley and Mark Canton and everybody’s in the mix — ’cause I’ve worked with these guys on other projects — it made it almost where the stars lined up for me on this one.
Gerard Butler: Yeah, our director is one of the manliest men that you could ever … I mean, he’s been doing jiu-jitsu–
Curtis Jackson: Yeah, he’ll come punch you, like in the middle he’s like, “Yo. Yeah, man, that was good.” And you’re like, “Yo, what the fuck?”
Gerard Butler: And so he filled this with men, so you’re just surrounded by the macho-est dudes and all UFC fighters or ex-military, and then also some of the toughest actors around as well, and it really leads to this incredible kind of testosterone and power that you have on set that allows you to go in that direction but then surprise people with emotion and vulnerability as you can actually delve into the other side of those characters.
Magdalena Bury: Can you speak a little bit about the journey of your character, his ups, and downs?
Gerard Butler: Yeah, I think that he’s lived a hard, rough life chasing down the bad guys. That takes you away from your family all the time, the stakeouts, the time you spend, the world you live in. What you can’t bring home, what you have to protect them against, is the monster that you have to be when you’re out there to do the things you gotta do. He protects them from that, but it doesn’t mean that he’s still that great when he’s at home. This job has taken certain things out of him. He has a drinking problem, he has a gambling problem, and you can’t exactly say that he’s faithful. But the one thing is he loves his kids and he does love his wife, he just doesn’t really know how to do it, and you’re watching this as this story unfolds and he’s trying to deal with the toughest case he’s ever come up against. He’s also watching his family fall apart and realizing that he ain’t the man … He could tell himself before, “Maybe I’m that guy,” but he’s like, “I’m not gonna go out of this planet the guy that I ever wanted to be. I don’t even have my kids around me anymore.”
Magdalena Bury: And your character is a father, too. There’s this prom date scene. Do you think you’d handle this the same way in real life?
Curtis Jackson: Probably without the garage. I’d bring them to the side and talk to them, because, I mean, interestingly enough, I think when you pointed out that Gerard’s character had family issues, it’s the same way. Is his work pulling him away from the actual family? And there’s a point where they reach a gray area, where they kind of become criminal to combat criminal. And look, on our side of it, my side of it, there’s an investment in the actual family that was originally being considered a cover and just not identifying with how emotionally attached you are to it, because it was an excuse. He was rationalizing and saying, “This covers me in plain day. It makes me invisible in plain sight, because who would be doing that that has this?” But at the same time actively being involved the whole time on the legal side of it. And then it’s not assessing the possibility of being caught, it’s because you’re too busy weighing the perks of when it works, what it’ll do for your family.
