March 17--South Side rapper-turned-actor Common will play Monster T, an affiliate of The Joker, in the upcoming "Suicide Squad" film, he told Complex in an interview posted online Wednesday.
"My role is basically, this is a character who is in business with The Joker," said Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr. He didn't give more details on his character, who sports facial piercings and tattoos.
"Suicide Squad," due out Aug. 5, follows The Joker (Jared Leto), Floyd "Deadshot" Lawton (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and other supervillains as they perform secret missions for the government.
Common and Ice Cube also talked to Complex about their Chicago-set movie "Barbershop: The Next Cut," which will explore gun violence. The film, which also stars Nicki Minaj and Cedric the Entertainer, is set to be released April 15.
"We wanted to make a movie that's more than just comedy. We wanted to make a movie that was really reflecting what's going on on the streets of Chicago," said Ice Cube, born O'Shea Jackson.
The collaboration is a big change from 20 years ago, when Common and Ice Cube didn't get along. The disagreement between the two co-stars stemmed from the lyrics of Common's 1994 song "I Used To Love H.E.R."
"I think we've been fans of each other from afar," Ice Cube said. "Our beef happened because of a misunderstanding. You know, it was cool for us to sit down, talk to each other and work that out as men."
