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Vin Diesel Wasn’t The Only Fast And Furious Actor To Turn Down 2 Fast 2 Furious


Following the surprising success of 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious,” the world assumed Vin Diesel would return for the inevitable sequel. After all, he was the clear standout performer in that first film, mesmerizing audiences with his undeniable command of the screen and proving yet again that he was one of the hottest young stars in Hollywood.
But Diesel reportedly turned down a $20 million-plus payday to appear in 2003’s “2 Fast 2 Furious,” leaving the studio no choice but to pivot to a story centering on Paul Walker’s Brian O’Conner. “I always get afraid of being pigeonholed,” Diesel told The L.A. Times. “The real reason why I didn’t return to the characters is the scripts hadn’t been right. The characters haven’t been right. It’s not like I ever said I wouldn’t be there.” Indeed, he eventually returned for a quick cameo at the end of “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift,” and then took command of the film series in a huge way with 2009’s “Fast & Furious,” never again relinquishing control and helping the franchise become one of the biggest in history.

But Diesel wasn’t the only one who turned down the opportunity to appear in “2 Fast 2 Furious.” A supporting player from the original film had the chance to graduate to a major role in the sequel, but he blew it, changing the trajectory of his career and forever altering the path of the “Fast and Furious” franchise in the process.
Ja Rule walked away from the sequel

In the first film, rapper Ja Rule played a character named Edwin who participates in the opening race with Brian and Dom. If you know these movies well, you’ll recall that before the race, a young woman named Monica comes up to Edwin and promises him a night with her whether he wins or loses — and if he wins, she says he’ll get a threesome with her and one of her friends.
Naturally, Edwin loses in spectacular fashion, yelling out “Monica!” in agony as he realizes he’s doomed for last place. After his sub-par performance in the race, Monica wants nothing to do with him.

According to Grantland, Edwin was supposed to get a significantly larger role in “2 Fast 2 Furious.” Though Ja Rule said in a 2002 interview that he turned the movie down because he “just felt it wasn’t the best move for me as far as what I want to do in Hollywood right now.” Director John Singleton, who helmed “2 Fast 2 Furious,” had the real story:
“Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. He got 15 grand to be in the first movie. He was really big at that time. I guess Murder Inc. was throwing out hits and were making money hand over foot. He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn’t return calls. I went to the studio to go see him — that’s just my mantra, I deal with a lot of music people. He was kinda playing me to the side and I was like, ‘What? What is this s***?’”

What could have been
After essentially being iced out by Ja Rule, Singleton called another hot rapper of the moment.
“I called Ludacris. I said, ‘Hey, Luda, I haven’t met you before, but I like what you’re doing right now.’ Luda was all humble, excited to meet me. I said, ‘I’m doing this movie and I’m wondering if you want to be a part of it.’ He goes, ‘What? Yeah! Anything you do I want to be a part of.’ That’s how Ludacris got in ‘2 Fast 2 Furious,’ and the rest is history.”
History, indeed. Ja Rule could have slipped into the Tej slot and ended up in at least six more movies over the years. (Remember when Tej was strictly a car guy before he magically became one of the best hackers the world has ever known? God, I love these movies.) But if that happened, audiences would have been robbed of seeing the chemistry between Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson, which admittedly reached its peak in “Fast Five” and has now become so unfunny that it’s actually kinda funny again. Still, those goobers are an essential element of these films, which are barely hanging on after Walker’s untimely death in 2013. If any other relationship or dynamic is altered, perhaps this entire franchise will come crashing down like the Toretto home after it was blown to smithereens by Jason Statham’s character.
Sounds like that ménage à trois with Monica wasn’t the only thing Ja Rule missed out on. But hey, given how frequently the “Fast and Furious” films love bringing back familiar faces, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Edwin resurface to help Dominic Toretto and his #family before the final credits roll in the last “Fast” film.

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‘I am officially off the market’: When Margot Robbie revealed she made the ‘conscious’ decision of not dating actors


Margot Robbie revealed her decision to not date actors because of the media scrutiny that came with a public relationship of two high-profile actors
Back in 2015, A-lister Margot Robbie made a declaration that she would not be dating any actors. The actress may have alluded to her fiance Tom Ackerley, who she married the following year in 2016. In an exclusive interview with Marie Claire, she revealed that being in a relationship as an actor herself came with its own set of challenges. She believed that dating someone who was popular would add on to the media scrutiny.

Margot Robbie opened up on why she made a conscious decision to not date actorsTalking to Marie Claire, she claimed, “I am officially off the market.” She then shared the reasoning behind her decision and added, “I made a conscious decision not to date actors.” She continued to explain, “But not because I hate actors. That’s a nasty generalization to make, and that’s not the case. People take such an interest in your love life when you have a profile, it puts a lot of stress on a relationship.”
The Barbie actress continued, “So two people with profiles, I figure it’s just double the amount of scrutiny, and I’d like to avoid that at all costs.” This came after reports of her locking lips with Tarzan co-star Alexander Skarsgard started making rounds. It was reported that she was caught kissing the actor during the Sundance Film Festival.

Margot Robbie revealed she opted for a minimal lifestyle even after becoming an actorIn the interview, Robbie also opened up about how she was adapting to fame. She shared, “I have a normal 24-year-old life. If I were a waitress, I’d probably have the exact same lifestyle. I’d go to the same clubs I go to already, live in the same house with the same housemates, hang out with the same people.”
However, Margot Robbie tied the knot with Tom Ackerley who is an English producer and actor. The duo met on the sets of 2013 movie Suite Francaise where Tom was working as an assistant director. Post marriage, both of them launched their production company LuckyChap Entertainment.

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Monica Bellucci and Tin Burton at lunch in the restaurant in Selci Lama


For All Saints’ Day, the Hollywood star from Tiferno returned to his native Umbria to enjoy a moment of relaxation and then visit his parentsOn the occasion of the All Saints’ Day celebrations, the Hollywood star of Tiferno origin, Monica Bellucci, returned to her native Umbria to enjoy a moment of relaxation and to visit her father Pasquale and her mother Brunella.Flanked by her current partner Tim Burton, she went to lunch, together with about twenty old friends, at the Osteria del Musicista, which has always been her favorite restaurant, in Selci Lama.Menu dedicated to typical dishes of the area, which includes an appetizer with breadsticks lined with coppa, duck in porchetta and grilled pork livers, polenta with wild boar sauce accompanied by the very typical cappelletti in broth.To conclude, a dessert based on fried “ciaccia” with Nutella and roasted chestnuts.
Having paid the bill and greeted the restaurant owner and lifelong friend, Roberto Polchi, Monica brought home cappelletti and broth for a family dinner.

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‘Rocky’ Was Quite Different In His Original Screenplay, Sylvester Stallone Claims


Sylvester Stallone took his friend’s advice on a rewrite of the original screenplay to Rocky. A few tweaks later, he was on his way to major success.
In the new Netflix documentary Sly, Stallone discussed how he initially conceived of the project, which had a much harder edge. In the early version, Rocky was depicted as a “thuggish” character, inspired by Martin Scorsese’s crime drama, Mean Streets.

But Stallone’s perspective changed when a friend read the script and thought the boxer was too cruel for audiences to actually care about him.
Stallone recalled her crying.

“She goes, ‘I hate Rocky. I hate him. He’s cruel. He hits people. He beats them up.’”
Stallone took it to heart, and asked what he could do to soften the character.

“I said, ‘what if you stop short of it?’ Like, maybe he almost did. He could have, that’s his job, but he doesn’t?’ ‘That’d be nice,’” he added. “I said, ‘What if he had a girlfriend or something?’ ‘Yeah, that’s nice.’ So I go back, start writing that: ‘Girlfriend. Nice.’”
$117 million in box office later, a franchise was born.

Stallone also revealed that actor Dolph Lundgren sent him to the hospital during one fight scene in Rocky IV.
“Dolph Lundgren… he pulverized me,” Stallone says in the documentary. “Later that night, my heart started to swell—which happens when the heart hits the chest—and then my blood pressure went up to 260, and they thought I was going to be talking to angels. Next thing I know, I’m in intensive care, where I’m surrounded by nuns, and I thought, ‘OK, that’s curtains.’”
Stallone was in the hospital for nine days following the incident, praying for “one more round.”
“For the first minute of the fight, it is going to be a free-for-all,” Stallone told Lundgren. The Swedish actor joked in a separate interview that all he did was “obey orders,” explaining, “[Stallone] was the boss. I did what he told me.”
Doctors allegedly told Stallone that he received a blow to the ribs that made his heart rattle around in his ribcage, a condition typically seen in head-on collisions. “I did hit a bus, of sorts,” Stallone joked.

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