Ludacris Appears As An Elf In 'Fred Claus'

The film world is becoming a new home for Ludacris. If you haven't seen him making lots of music videos, then you've certainly seen on the big and small screen doing tremendous work in the acting field. From his performance in 'Hustle & Flow' to the Oscar winning film, 'Crash', to his amazing episodic work on TV's Law and Order: SVU, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges has made fans in the acting world, and he continues to reinvent himself in this field.

For his next role, he wanted to do something that his daughter can see and with that said, we will see him play an elf opposite Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti in 'Fred Claus'. Within the film, Ludacris plays DJ Donnie.

FRED CLAUS opens on November 9, 2007.

While in LA to promote the film, Ludacris spoke about doing comedy for a change, and his upcoming album.

What was the reason for taking this film?

Ludacris: I took on this role just because it was different from what I had done before. A lot of the roles that I have done have been serious roles from 'Crash' and 'Hustle and Flow', and even the episodes I've done on 'Law and Order: SVU' and this is my first comedy/ family film, I wanted to take my daughter to the movie and see this also. With that being said, when you look at some of the videos I've done, there's comedy in there as well. I knew about the cast and I loved the script the first time I read it. It was laugh out loud funny.

How was the process like working behind the blue screen?

Ludacris: That was my first time doing that. It was a little challenging but because I have rhythm it was a lot easier for an individual like myself, but it was fun because I kept laughing as I was doing it. It was a green screen and I had to look at the screen and mimic the movements of the actual little person so of course, so when Vince picked him up, I had to get on a chair. As far as the neck and the body, everything had to be coordinated the same way. It took me about two days to get everything right but it was a fun process. It was definitely hilarious for me. If anyone remembers the 'Roll Out' video, it's sort of similar to this.

What was your reaction to seeing that for the first time?

Ludacris: Man, I was laughing even harder. They pitched my voice and made it even higher, so that was a funny element to it. Just the facial expressions I was making, sometimes I surprised myself, so to look at myself on screen, the scene was crazy.

How come you are not on the soundtrack?

Ludacris: When the credits are rolling, I did a remix to 'Here comes Santa Claus', so you can check that out, the Ludacris version. This is something worth staying in your seat for.

Did you base the DJ character on anyone?

Ludacris: It was written as DJ Donnie. I did a little ad-libbing just being myself but for the most part it was written the way it was. I didn't have many choices of records to play because all I played was 'Here comes Santa Claus'. I did use my previous DJ experience to come into that role.

What's going on with you musically?

Ludacris: I'm working on my 6th album called 'Theater of the Mind', and that should be out in 2008.

What is the fondest memory you have of Christmas?

Ludacris: I was 6 years old and in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, I got up to go to the bathroom and I peeked in the living room and saw my father eating Santa's cookies and milk and I was devastated and it was a traumatic experience for me and I'm still getting over to that til this day. I started asking a lot of questions from there and realized that Santa Claus was not real. It wasn't a good Christmas year.

What other films do you have lined up?

Ludacris: My next film in the 'RocknRolla' film, which is also a Warner Bros. film and that comes out in the Fall of 2008.

With the film business booming for you, do you have plans to leave the music side?

Ludacris: When I'm like 45, I don't plan on performing on BET or anything like that. The transition is being made where I'm getting into acting more, but I think I will be always be involved in music whether I'm behind the scenes or in front of the camera. That's something that I love but the acting is where I want to see how I can go.