(AllHipHop News) Rapper Big Boi didn’t have to stretch his imagination much to portray an obnoxious TV sports dad because his son is a real-life star athlete.
The Outkast star plays an annoying field father on BET network series “The Quad” and he used his everyday life to pull off the character, revealing his son, Cross Patton, is a high school American football champion who has recently been offered a scholarship to play for the University of Southern California (USC).
“It’s a real instance of art imitating life,” he tells CNN of his The Quad role. “My son on the show is a star football player… In real life, my son is a star football player for Woodward Academy (in Atlanta, Georgia).”
Big Boi, real name Antwan Patton, is enjoying his acting career after also landing a part in the forthcoming remake of famous cult 1970s film Superfly.
The 43-year-old is not new to the film industry – and has 22 acting credits to his name, including roles in 2006 movies ATL and Idlewild – and he reveals his hip-hop history helps him develop characters.
“You get to become someone else, bringing that character to life and entertaining people,” he explains. “A lot of directors let me do ad-libbing. Most of my lines in ATL were not scripted, they were just my lines.”
Big Boi is attracted to portraying personalities that are totally different than him, and he dreams of landing a gig as a villain, revealing a serial killer role in a dark comedy would be ideal.
But fans of Outkast hoping for a band reunion needn’t hold their breath – humble Big Boi admits that although he is flattered by online suggestions of a big Super Bowl Halftime show gig with Andre 3000, his focus is firmly on the opportunities before him.
“You’ll have to ask Jesus (about the Super Bowl),” he laughs.
