With director Christian Gudegast’s Den of Thieves opening this weekend, I recently sat down with O’Shea Jackson Jr. for an exclusive video interview. During our wide-ranging conversation we talked about making his first big action movie, what surprised him about the process, how he got involved in the project, and doing his own stunts. In addition, we talked about what happens after you’ve been in a buzzed about Sundance movie (last year’s Ingrid Goes West), when he first realized he wanted to be an actor, if he’ll ever do a movie with his father (Ice Cube), what fans should be looking forward to in director Michael Dougherty’s Godzilla: King of Monsters, and Jonathan Levine’s Flarsky with Seth Rogen.

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If you haven’t seen the trailers, Den of Thieves is about a group of elite bank robbers that set out to rob the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Reserve and some members of the LA County Sheriff’s Dept that are out to stop them. It’s a Los Angeles crime story in the vein of Heat. Den of Thieves also stars Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber50 CentMaurice Compte, and Sonya Balmores.

Check out what O’Shea Jackson Jr. had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about followed by some images from the film.

O’Shea Jackson Jr.:

  • What happens after Sundance when you’re in a movie with a lot of buzz (like last year with Ingrid Goes West).
  • When did he first know he wanted to be an actor?
  • Doing his own stunts, and Den of Thieves being an “extreme” movie.
  • Why he wants to take on all opportunities and roles to show his range. Doing action, doing rom-coms, “I want to be Chris Pratt!”
  • Buying a replica Tom Brady Superbowl ring.
  • When he and his dad might do a movie together playing father and son.
  • Some teases about the new Godzilla movie (Godzilla: King of Monsters), and what fans should be looking forward to.
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Image via STXfilms
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Image via STXfilms
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Image via STXfilms