Ja Rule F*cked Up By Letting Ludacris Take His 'Fast And Furious' Role

You may not remember this, but Ja Rule was in the first "Fast and the Furious" film. However, Ja never appeared in any of the other films in the franchise.

His role was effectively taken over by another rapper in "2 Fast 2 Furious."

That rapper, of course, is Ludacris. Back in 2002, Ja said this about passing up on the part:

I just felt it wasn't the best move for me as far as what I want to do in Hollywood right now. I'm really trying to do this acting thing very seriously. And you know, sometimes every move is not the right move.

It's pretty clear Ja screwed the pooch on this one. Ludacris got to play a major role in one of the biggest franchises in Hollywood right now. And Ja, well, no one really knows what he's doing with his life anymore.

John Singleton, the director of "2 Fast 2 Furious" told Grantland,

Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. He got 15 grand to be in the first movie. He was really big at that time. I guess Murder Inc. was throwing out hits and were making money hand over foot. He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn't return calls. I went to the studio to go see him — that's just my mantra, I deal with a lot of music people. He was kinda playing me to the side and I was like, 'What? What is this shit?' This was all initiated by me. I then made a call. I called Ludacris. I said, 'Hey, Luda, I haven't met you before, but I like what you're doing right now.' Luda was all humble, excited to meet me. I said, 'I'm doing this movie and I'm wondering if you want to be a part of it.' He goes, 'What? Yeah! Anything you do I want to be a part of.' That's how Ludacris got in '2 Fast 2 Furious,' and the rest is history.

Citations: Ja Rule Could Have Had Ludacris Role in the Fast and Furious Franchise (Complex)