A Mos Excellent Letter

Dear Mr. Mos Def,

I wish you were a better actor.

There, I said it.

It's not that you're a particularly bad actor, but I just keep waiting for that moment when your talent will make me think: Okay, this guy can act. I'm still waiting.

Oh, there have been glimpses, starting with your work as Ford Prefect in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. For sure, the humor of that movie was relatively understated, too, so there wasn't much for you to do that seemed to require much specialized acting. In other words, you played the character in much the same way you act in interviews: quiet, with a dry wit and a little over-the-top clowning. It was a competent performance, but nothing to write a blog post about...

Beyond your role in The Italian Job--a rather mumbling mess that underwhelmed in the face of even Mark Wahlberg's poor performance (bailed out by a Donald Sutherland cameo, the always fantastic Ed Norton, great action sequences, and a particularly gorgeous Charlize Theron)--the only things I remember you in were some rather green appearances on "The Dave Chappelle Show" and the underrated Be Kind, Rewind.

It is to the latter I wish to discuss. For the first time, you were thrust to the forefront--and you weren't half-bad. Alas, that's the best I can do as far as a review goes at the moment. Because while I enjoyed the movie, and feel your role in it helped give a straight-man to the antic Jack Black, ultimately I can't help feel anyone could have stepped into that role. They may not have been so realistically charming (Denzel, Taye Diggs, and Will Smith need not apply), but I'm sure there are plenty of young, black actors who could have played that part.

Hell, Nick Cannon wouldn't have been a bad choice.

And that's what I'm saying: You're 100% more talented than Nick Cannon, and yet, right now, I'd say he's a better actor. And unlike my letter to your Italian Job co-star, Jason Statham, it's not as if you're being given limiting roles. Subdued, perhaps, but certainly not action-oriented drivel that Statham has carved out as his little niche. You're being given ACTING jobs, and yet, for the moment, I'm not exactly sure why.

The good news is that there's hope, which is that you are still relatively young to the game. Watch early episodes of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and you'll see Will Smith trying to get by on charm alone--he's not acting, he's overacting. Now, though, I'd say he's legitimately one of the best actors working today, in any genre.

Yours isn't a problem of overacting, but underacting. For someone who brings so much life and bravado to the stage or an album, I find it hard to believe your this reserved. And yet, you come across as almost shy when I see you on screen.

You're better than that.

So keep working on your craft.

And, while your at it, do another Black Star and/or solo album, because, really, while you're not the greatest actor, your definitely one of the best rappers.

Sincerely,

David