Jada Pinkett Rejected Role in ‘Dead Presidents’ Over Friendship with 2Pac
Written by SOURCE on October 24, 2020
2Pac and Jada Pinkett Smith remained close until his untimely death. But when the rapper was alive, the actress was still devoutly loyal to him—so loyal that she turned down a role in the 1995 film Dead Presidents because of Pac.
In a new interview with HipHollywood, Larenz Tate—who played Anthony Curtis in the film—revealed why Pinkett Smith declined the role in the Hughes brothers-helmed movie.
“We’re on set in New Orleans talking about that experience,” Tate said, referring to them being on location to film Girls Trip. “I said, ‘I talked to the Hughes brothers and you were supposed to be in the movie.’ And she says ‘I was.’ She was like, ‘I couldn’t do it because, at the time, I was really close with 2Pac and 2Pac had this beef with the Hughes brothers.’”
Tate said that he’d known she’d been given the opportunity to play the role of Delilah in Dead Presidents. He added that Pinkett Smith knew her working with the Hughes brothers might make things uncomfortable for her friendship with 2Pac. The rapper and the directors began feuding on the set of Menace II Society, which ended up in 2Pac getting physical with the brothers.
