Tyrese Gibson Goes Waist Deep

Is Tyrese Gibson a leading man? We may have the answer this weekend when the actor's Waist Deep opens in theaters nationwide. Despite his name all over the previews and posters, Tyrese Gibson was quick to brush off stories that Waist Deep, the tale of a man trying to get his son back from ruthless gangsters, was a star vehicle. He told Scripps Howard News Service, "You just kinda gotta show up and just try your best to be on the same page with everybody that you're working with and just make sure that it's not about you, as weird as that may sound. It's my movie, but it's not my movie because it's our movie. Everybody contributed to what this is."

Director Vondie Curtis-Hall has been around the Hollywood block before with projects as diverse as Chicago Hope and Mariah Carey's Glitter. He hopes that Tyrese Gibson's role with fill a void in African-American cinema. Vondie Curtis-Hall spoke to The Detroit News, "I'm really proud of it. I love it because I really had a chance to do something you don't often see in urban movies. I created a brother (Tyrese) who cares about his son. In most urban movies, the father is missing or is on crack. In my projects, I work to shine a light on and humanize folks who are otherwise spat on and are overlooked. In the movie, Tyrese is a two-time felon who wants to change his life and do right by his son. I want to show folks in a light that's real."

Waist Deep may be just the beginning for Tyrese Gibson, as he hopes to go even higher, including working with his idol, Denzel Washington. He told MovieWeb, "I won't feel like I've made it in Hollywood until I've worked with Denzel Washington and that's it; I don't care who else I work with, that's great, fine, and dandy. When I do a film with Denzel, I'll feel like I've made; I'll feel like, 'Alright, now I'm an actor.' That's my dream role right there, whatever it is; I'll play a crack-head, lets go. Give me my pipe - 'Lets do this, Denzel.'"

Waist Deep co-stars the gorgeous Meagan Good (Brick, Roll Bounce, Venom), Larenz Tate (Crash, Ray, Menace II Society), and rap star The Game. After Waist Deep, Tyrese Gibson will star in the highly anticipated The Transformers from Michael Bay and is even in talks to play Luke Cage, in the adaptation of that popular comic book.

Tyrese Gibson in Waist Deep has to compete with Adam Sandler in Click this weekend, as well as the third weekend of Pixar's Cars and the second weekend of Jack Black's Nacho Libre for the highly coveted summer movie dollar.

[Additional Sources: Scripps Howard News Service, Detroit News, Movieweb, IMDB]