Jackie Long: New Jack Swing

Jackie Long may play an egotistical hard ass in his latest big screen venture The Comebacks, but in reality, he’s just a regular guy who enjoys good friends, good food and some good ol’ sexy music. While many may recognize his face and humorous shenanigans from supporting roles in film hits such as ATL and Idlewild, Long is determined to show his supporters that he is far more than the class clown. While he attempts to portray a tough guy in Trey Songz’ video for his latest single, “Can’t Help But Wait,” he can’t seen to shake that inescapable boyish charm.We caught up with the nebula to have some casual conversation, in which he expresses his love and support for T.I., addresses the rumors surrounding him and Serena Williams, and sends a fair warning out to Sean “Diddy” Combs.  AllHipHop.com: Hey you. What have you been up to?Jackie Long: Working, working, working.  My new movie, The Comebacks, just came out-which is hilarious! AllHipHop.com:  Are you excited about being on the big screen again?Jackie Long: I’m excited. I still get a little nervous though.  I don’t like to watch myself on the screen sometimes, because I know there are a lot of people out there critiquing me. But it’s definitely exciting. I actually just finished wrapping a movie, Doorman, starring me and Gary Dourdan.  I don’t know when it’ll be released, but yeah… I play a beat boxer. AllHipHop.com: In many of your films, you tend to have a comedic role.  Is that something you’d like to stick to?Jackie Long: Nah, I definitely don’t want to stick to it because I have too much talent to just be sticking to one thing.  I’m able to do everything.  For instance, if you happened to see the Trey Songz video [“Can’t Help But Wait”]; you can definitely see the other side of me.AllHipHop.com:  It’s weird because I wanted to laugh when I saw you in that video too. Maybe it’s just me.Jackie Long: See, people that know me know what type of dude I am. People that don’t know me are thinking “Oh my God!  Who is this dude?” So I don’t want people that know me to think that I can’t play a certain role because of how I am. Like, I don’t think I was a funny guy in ATL. Some of the things I said might have been funny, but it wasn’t funny like Jason Weaver’s role.  Now in Idlewild I played the funny, over the top type. AllHipHop.com:  Well it’s cool that you still have that light hearted quality, since becoming Hollywood, you know?Jackie Long: Yeah. My personality is always great.  You’ll never know when I’m down. AllHipHop.com:  That’s a great thing. Now we spoke briefly about your role in ATL, which starred T.I., and as I’m sure you know, he’s facing some serious charges.  Do you guys have a personal relationship?Jackie Long:  Yeah, we definitely do. AllHipHop.com:  What are your personal thoughts on the entire situation?Jackie Long: I think not being a celebrity, it’s important to pick who you hang around.  And sometimes you can be hanging around a bad person, that may not be doing anything bad, but you can still learn something good out of that.  So you just have to be at the right place at the right time.  And it’s hard, especially when a lot of people look up to you. I’m not saying T.I. was hanging with the right people or wrong people, but sometimes when you’re a celebrity and people aren’t at your status, they hate on you because they aren’t doing well and you are.  And it all comes down to money or fame, just like Scarface-money, power, respect.  And when someone don’t got that, and they want it so bad, they’ll do anything to hurt you. So with T.I., I wish him the best. I love that dude. I just hope he learns from his mistakes. I know T.I. is a smart dude.  I know that if he did whatever he did and it was wrong, he knows it’s wrong.  And if it was right, he knows it’s right. All I can say is that you have to watch what you do, say and who you hang around, because you can’t trust nobody.  It’s a hard world when you’re in the limelight. You work for AllHipHop.com; there’s someone hatin’ on you right now. AllHipHop.com: You have a personal relationship with Diddy. How did that come about? Jackie Long: I don’t know.  You know how we were just talking about being around the right people, and choosing your friends?  I was always the guy that kind of stayed to myself. I would see Diddy all the time, and we’d speak.  And I would walk away feeling like a little a** kid, like, “That’s Puffy.” [Laughs] But then it was like, we’re all the same people. Like, the first time he called me, I don’t even know how he got the number, but he called me up and was like, “Yo! N***a, this Diddy!  I thought I was the hardest person to get a hold of.”  He invited me some place, and it’s been a few years now and we’ve been real close every since. Like his home is my home. He’s a good dude to be around and learn from. He’s a very smart dude and I look up to him a lot.AllHipHop.com: Okay, so about this You Tube clip y’all have on the net…Jackie Long: [laughs] Man, he called me up as I was leaving the set of The Comebacks and said he was at the Jimmy Kimmel and for me to come through. So I went through. We were chillin’, and then I took my hat off. He was like, “N***a, what in the hell is up with your head?”  He didn’t even say hi or nothing, [he] just went straight for my hairline. But see, me and him are always talking about each other, doing what boys do.  That was a good day. He got me that day with the forehead. It’s cool! You got me on that one Diddy.  I got you on the next one.[Story continues below…]AllHipHop.com:  Now what’s this I hear about you and Ms. Serena Williams?Jackie Long: I don’t even want to talk about it. Not true. Let’s move to the next question. What, you’re talkin’ about the rumors about her being pregnant and all that stuff?AllHipHop.com:  Uh, no. I wasn’t even going there.  You are giving me new information. [Laughs]Jackie Long: We just got finished talkin’ about bad people. Are you bad people?AllHipHop.com: Nah, not at all. You’re the one talking about pregnancies and stuff. Jackie Long: Well that’s because everyone’s hitting me up talking about “Congratulations!”  I’m like, “Congratulations for what?  I got a new movie role or something?” [Laughs]AllHipHop.com: Speaking of movie roles, is there a role that you’ve been dying to play?Jackie Long:  Man, I want to be in a movie where I play a scientist. I want to play a lawyer. I want to play a cop.  I want to do so much. I can go all day.  I want to play the job you have. I want to be a writer in a movie.  There is nothing that I don’t want to do.AllHipHop.com:  Okay, so what are you listening to these days?  Are you into music?Jackie Long:  Yeah, man. I’ve been listening to my boy Trey Songz. I’m listening to some T.I., Jay-Z, Lil’ Wayne. I’m definitely listening to some Diddy. Keyshia Cole…gotta have that Keyshia Cole. That’s just what I have in the deck, but I’m a real ol’ school dude.  I like the R. Kellys and the SWVs. I love sexy music.  I’m an R&B dude all the way.  I love that Ne-Yo CD and that new Alicia Keys song.  Music is my life. It gets me through my day.As a matter of a fact, let me see what’s in my iPod right now, in the house. I bet it’s Anthony Hamilton. I am a big Anthony Hamilton fan. [Fumbles with iPod] Yep! Look at that, all Anthony Hamilton.  Hold on real quick, let me play something. Check it out. [Sings along with audio]AllHipHop.com:  So are you going to put out a record anytime soon?Jackie Long: Nah. I don’t want to be like everyone else.  This is my job.  I don’t want to do everyone else’s job, switching hobbies.  I need to focus on one hobby, go learn the other, then get into it.  I don’t want to be rappin’ and actin’, and actin’ and rappin’. I’m gonna do me.