Columbus Short Interview

After hitting it big in Stomp the Yard, Columbus Short has in only a few short years become one of the most prolific young actors in Hollywood, starring in everything from dramas like Cadillac Records to horror/thrillers like Quarantine and Whiteout. He is now tackling the action genre with his new movie, Armored, released this past Friday. I recently had the pleasure to talk with Short on his new film as well as his future roles. This is the unedited interview.

What first attracted you to the script for Armored?

The rockin’ script. It was a fantastic script. I know this might sound weird, but most scripts, when it’s written for an African American, they say “African American” on the script. But when there’s no race dictated on the page, you know that it’s probably written for a white actor. It was a fascinating script and I wanted to really dive in and do something outside of urban films, so it was something that I really wanted to be a part of. I had to fight the studio pretty hard to get involved and it paid off.

Could you explain the process of how you prepare for a role? In Cadillac Records, you played Little Walter, who is a real person and has an extensive history to research and learn about. How different was your preparation for Little Walter as opposed to your character in Armored?

A lot different. You know, the preparation for each movie is different. Sometimes it takes a lot of preparation and sometimes it takes very little and you just kind of, you know, live on the day of what’s happening in the moment. It depends on the script, of course. With Armored, it was just about the background of this guy. He’s an ex-Marine, he’s blue collar, just struggling to make ends meet and you want to have, you just kind of want to carry that weight, the weight of that person because it’s usually heavy in real life. I just wanted his weight to be kind of heavy and once from there the character grew each day working with Laurence Fishburne and Matt Dillon and I keep dropping names, but I’m going to pick them up. And um, every day the character just kind of grew from there.

And Jean Reno is another.

Jean Reno, yes, he is a bad ass. Bleep that out.

Agreed. The Professional is a great movie.

Yep.

What was it like working with that group of guys?

Amazing. They are the coolest guys you’d ever meet and you know, I was a little nervous before we started production because you know veterans, man, I was going to set and I was like, “What is Laurence going to be like? What is Jean going to be like? What is Matt going to be like?” And they were the coolest, most laid back guys I’ve worked with and I don’t think I’ve worked with anybody as cool as them since, as laid back, in that sense. But they’re just super good guys and they really took me in and supported me and made me feel comfortable to do my job.

I’ve read that you performed all of your own stunts for Armored. Is that true?

Yes, it is. I did.

What’s more difficult: stunt work or busting a move like you did in Stomp the Yard?

Dancing comes natural. Doing stunts, I mean, it’s funny man. Stunts aren’t really called stunts. It’s kind of just do it, get hurt. I asked a stunt guy, “How do you guys train for this?” But no, you just have to kind of jump into it. It was a lot of that, you know, just thrusting myself in there and throwing my body on the line. Dancing kind of comes natural.

So I guess a stunt is a little harder and takes a little longer to plan out than a dance number.

Absolutely, because there’s safety. Without giving it away, there’s a stunt where I’m getting chased by this armored truck and it just kind of flies over my head, which I wasn’t too thrilled about, but you know, the timing is very precise. Stuntmen do get killed and actors do get hurt. The studio fought me on even letting me do half of the things I did in the movie, but I really liked it. It’s exciting. It’s exhilarating. You learn a new craft on each movie. That’s what’s amazing about being an actor.

How do you feel your career has evolved since Stomp the Yard?

I think that I’m getting meatier roles and more challenging projects and each movie the bar just kind of gets raised which is what you want to do in anything, harder, more challenging roles and it’s evolving day by day, movie by movie, year by year.

Since you started acting, you have been in dramas, dance movies, comedies and even a horror remake with Quarantine. And now you’re tackling an action thriller. Out of all of those genres, which is your favorite to do and why?

The most exciting is action, of course. The most fun is comedy, but drama is the most challenging and that is what is kind of exhilarating to me, you know, being able to really go in and tap into emotions that you might not necessarily tap into on a daily basis. I would have to say I have a proclivity to drama, but all those other ones are great too.

Are you an actor who goes back and watches himself with an audience to gauge their reaction or do you find it weird to see yourself on the big screen?

That’s a really good question. Some actors hate to watch themselves on screen, and in no way to be narcissistic, I don’t like to watch myself onscreen with an audience, but I do watch my movies at some point by myself because, you know like an NFL quarterback, you watch the tapes on Monday, you know what I mean? You watch the tapes because you want to know what doesn’t work and what works. There are little things on camera and you want to make your performances as quality as possible and as much as you have to, when you’re acting, you have to have no care about the camera, but you do have to care about the camera. That’s an awkward juxtaposition about both, but I do watch myself on film sometimes to see what I can do better in the next movie and how to get better as an actor.

So you don’t do it with an audience? Because Armored, that one would be a fun one to watch with a big audience.

Well, you watch it with an audience at the premiere, but you kind of don’t want to watch it with other audiences because if they start booing you, it’s probably going to be pretty awkward to be there.

Good point. You act, sing, dance, you’ve even done choreography for musical talents. Do you see yourself taking a hiatus from acting anytime in the future to tackle an endeavor in one of those other fields?

I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish before I take a hiatus, so I don’t foresee that happening anytime soon unless they just don’t hire me. [Laughs]

I’ve heard talks that you’re going to be starring in a graphic novel movie. Is that what’s next for you after Armored?

Oh, I just wrapped it about three weeks ago in Puerto Rico. It’s called The Losers. I’m really excited about that one. It’s a fantastic graphic novel, a DC novel and it’s super action, like the epitome of an action movie. Kind of an ode to Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, Bad Boys, very much in that vein. It’s smart, witty comedy, but also a hardcore action/drama.