Andre 3000 opened up in an exclusive New York Times interview about his music and his highly-anticipated film role.
Andre is celebrating a great year with the Outkast reunion tour and an upcoming film role — playing the legendary rock icon Jimi Hendrix in the biopic, “Jimi: All Is by My Side.”
But his year hasn’t been all great moments. His performance at Coachella was weak and a disappointment to fans.
“Yeah, I think people could see it at Coachella, the very first show. It was foreign. My head wasn’t there. I kind of fluffed through rehearsals. A few hours before the Coachella show, I get a message that Prince and Paul McCartney are going to be there.”
He added, “my spirit is not right, and idols are standing side-stage, so as the show started, I’m bummed. This is horrible. In my mind I was already gone to my hotel room halfway through.”
Nevertheless, pop icon Prince sent some advice Andre’s way on how to make proper return to the stage and owning it.
“So Prince called a couple days after [Coachella performance]. It was my first time actually talking to Prince. He said: “‘When you come back, people want to be wowed. And what’s the best way to wow people? Just give them the hits.’”
He added, “he broke it down like this: ‘You’re a grown man. You’re either going to do it or you’re not.’”
Speaking of performances, Andre almost passed on the role of a lifetime — to play Hendrix in a biopic. He felt he was too old.
“I may have said it to [the director] John [Ridley]: ‘Man, I’m old. I have gray hair. Get some young unknown kid to play Hendrix.’ I turned it down,” he said.
He aded, “they kept at it. I actually asked my son, [Seven]. He said, ‘Yeah, man.’ Honestly, I needed it in my life, too. Hendrix kind of saved me. I was in a not-so-great space, just in a dark place every day. I needed something to focus on to get me out of my depression and rut.”
“Jimi: All Is by My Side” opens up in theaters on Friday, September 26, 2014.
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