Prior to casting Vonte Sweet, the role of Sharif Butler in the 1993 film Menace II Society was originally set to be played by Tupac. However, the rapper later walked away from the movie after disagreements with the film’s directors regarding the character’s religious affiliations.
MC Eiht, who played A-Wax in the film, recently detailed Tupac’s issue with the role during a newly published interview with VladTV.
“Pac had a problem with that role because it didn’t depict him like the rest of us,” MC Eiht said during the interview. “In our circle, everybody was gang-banging killers, except him. And for him playing movies that had him in that role, it kind of side-tracked him. This wasn’t no — who wouldn’t do Poetic Justice with Janet Jackson? — but as far as the [Roland] Bishop role [in the 1992 film Juice], he wanted to maintain that character with his image of acting… At that time, it was his second gig so he wanted to maintain that imagery of Bishop. When they wanted him to be around all of us, you got [MC] Eiht over here, you got Too $hort, and even the actor muthafuckas are ‘hard core’ [so] why I gotta be the calmed down dude?
“To me it was a tactic because they didn’t want him in the movie,” MC Eiht later added about the film’s directors, the Hughes brothers. “They didn’t want him in the movie because the Hughes brothers knew him. They shot three [or] four of his videos [and] they had worked with Pac, they knew his work ethic. From my understanding, he was a part of the deal. ‘We gotta have Tupac in this movie.’ So they figured, let’s give him this role because it won’t put him on that stage because they didn’t want to work with him.”
Later in the interview, MC Eiht elaborated on the reasons why Tupac didn’t like his character’s narrative.
“My take on it was — every time we got ready to rehearse, he had an opinion about his character,” MC Eiht said. “Every time it came down to him to start reading, he would stop and just start going, ‘Well why my character ain’t this? Why this? Why that?’ So he wanted them to write in [to] the script why he turned Muslim. Show why! The depiction of it was supposed to be [that] his little brother had got killed, but they weren’t gonna show all that, it was just a point of view. He didn’t want that character. Or make my character so the audience can understand why I’m a Muslim now. Did I go bust on 15 dudes and kill them? Did my brother get killed and I went and retaliated? Show me why I turned Muslim. And they wouldn’t do it and that’s what angered him.”
MC Eiht’s interview, whereby he says that Tupac ditched his role in Menace II Society as the character wasn’t thug enough, can be viewed below:
Um…This is a very conflicting interview. Wasn’t the reason Pac didn’t do Menace II Society because he and the Hughes brothers had issues? ‘Pac was fired from Menace II Society after getting into a physical altercation with the movie’s directors, the Hughes Brothers. Larenz Tate also stated this in an interview on HHDX a long time ago, it’s common knowledge, so I have no idea what Eiht is talking about…
Everybody has their side of the story. MC Eiht, is most likely just telling a part of the story that peeps didn’t know. Were you on set or at rehearsals at the time? No! So shut the fuck up then.
Pac got into fight with the brothers cos they cast him in a role he didn’t like – the story which Eiht is telling. That’s the reason for the fight.
who is this no name fool talking about the great pac
MC Eiht a west coast legend, fool. If you a true hip-hop head, you would know this.
Thats a 90’s legend from the West coast, MC Eiht. He also played A-Wax in the movie
Caine’s cousin was a rapper. His name is Saafir
Misleading headline. MC Eiht never used the word thug in talking about the role. He was basically saying Pac had an issue with lack of depth with the character.
I heard Pac at 1 point (I believe)mention the Hughes Bros got the $1million movie deal with New Line Cinema based on telling New Line Cinema he(2pac)would be in it. I believe he felt the Hughes Bros used his name but then became shady about his involvement and he called them out on it when had numerous issues with his role. I believe Eiht is right but there are probably a few more layers there between Pac and the Hughes Bros
keepin it real gone catastrophic, shouldve remained a ballerina
…says the white boy typing from the suburbs trolling a hiphop site…smh
Conflicting as hell…He always sounds like a fuckin hater….we all know Pac had a lil bit of shit with him shut up.
Why is he always up n talkin about 2Pac,why ain’t he tellin us about himself or his other friends?everytime he in here,he be poppin his mouth about 2Pac and none nothin else?Is he tryin’na eat off a nigga’s fame?but he dead now,let his soul rest in peace.Find somethin to do,maybe write a kids book and get of the nigga Pac name.There is lots of folks he hung with and was down with,some was his proteges but they ain’t babbling like u is doing!
Enough with the 2pac. He was a homo thug wannabe are school tutu wearing fairy.
Art school*
So if Eiht talking about 2 Pac didn’t want to play a Muslim, is that because he was gonna play “Shareef”?? I thought he was gonna take on Kane’s role so he can be with his girl Jada. Kane wasn’t no Muslim so I know it could’nt have been that role. Which I thought the whole time it was Kane’s role he was gonna take.
fuck ya tupac aint no thug. Tupac has abosolutely no credibility to be a legit thug like Gucci Mane. All you tupac fans know that Gucci will allways be regarded as the realest nigga to ever hold a mic unlike your fake balerina thug poser tupac.
Gucci Mane is garbage Homeboy. You got no knowledge Boy. Tupac Forever Motha Fukas. West Coast Thugs. Real Motha Fukas.
But gucci wake as hell on the mic pac on the other hand drops down on one knee and fires on crocked cops for beating another blackman real shit calls out over a hundred GDs on stage for killing yummy not to mention his connection to known New York drug dealers Thug Life
Fuck Gucci ese and Fuck the weak ass East Coast..Big Bad Pasadena Latin Kings 13
@GWA… a homo thug…who shot 2 crooked cops beating up a black man…real thugs do nothing to the cops who are murdering black teenagers…i rather vouch for the homo thug…
he should have old this 20 yrs ago… its not that important considering the fact that the man is dead for how long now
Word is Pac took a chair to a Hughes brothers head in his office over this.
Unknown why these lames are bloggin on Pac this and that cuz all your doin is sayin ‘hey guys Im a dummy internet troll’ If your cool with that then keep up the wasted space.
Nah Tupac had a fight with a director of this movie and he got fired