To help promote the new Will Ferrell basketball comedy “Semi-Pro,” I recently interviewed a number of people in the cast. While you may have already seen the Will Arnett and Woody Harrelson interviews, I’ve got two more to post and they’re going up today. Up first is Andre Benjamin, and in a little while I’ve got Will Ferrell.

While you may not know Andre Benjamin’s name, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard some of his music. As half of the hip hop duo OutKast, Andre has written and produced a number of hit songs like “Hey Ya!” and “Roses,” and he revealed during the interview that OutKast is making another record later this year. For fans of the band, this is great news.

But enough about his music. Andre has been working pretty steadily as an actor, perhaps you’ve seen him in “Idlewild,” “Four Brothers,” “Revolver,” or “Be Cool.” Anyway, in “Semi-Pro” Andre plays Clarence 'Coffee' Black, the best player on the worst team in the league. Here’s the synopsis:

Will Ferrell plays

Jackie Moon, a one-hit wonder who used the profits from the success of his chart-topping song “Love Me Sexy” to achieve his dream of owning a basketball team. But Will’s franchise, the Flint Michigan Tropics, is the worst team in the league and in danger of folding when the ABA announces its plans to merge with the NBA. If they want to survive, Jackie (Will) and the Tropics must now do the seemingly impossible – win. The film has a great cast with Woody Harrelson, Andre Benjamin, Maura Tierney, Will Arnett, Andy Richter, Rob Corddry and Jackie Earle Haley all playing supporting roles.

And now, that interview. As always, I listed what we talked about above the video. And for people wondering about the rumors of a Jimi Hendrix movie with Andre as Jimi, he said the reason that it hasn’t happened yet is due to music rights. Finally, if you missed the video clips from “Semi-Pro” you can watch them here.

Andre Benjamin

  • How much fun did he making this movie

  • I ask did he ever think he’d be in one of these Will Ferrell sports movies

  • Hair and short shorts talk

  • Since Will has a pretty loose set that encourages improvisation, I ask how much did he contribute

  • Since he’s been linked to playing Jimi Hendrix, I ask if it’ll ever happen. He said what’s holding up the film is getting the rights to Jimi’s music.

  • I ask about his writing process for music.

  • I ask what movies he has coming up, and what music he’s working on. Outcast fans will be happy.