I sat at the lunch table and found myself defending Chris Brown. Maybe defending isn’t the right word, but nonetheless another film critic was being a snooty booty about Stomp the Yard. I was personally offended that he didn’t give a rip about the tradition of Stepping. Nor did he care about the actors. “It’s not my type of music” he said. Okay, I can respect that, but surely he’d heard of Chris Brown. I mean really, I was a freshmen in college when he was born, so I’m old enough to be his mother, and know of him. Heck, I’ll be in a body cast afterwards, but I can “Run It”. As I searched for words to attach to the young man who some call a seasoned entertainer, I kept coming back to “He’s a teenaged Michael Jackson.” Isn’t that a bold statement? It is, but less than a hour later, I found out that I was not that far off the mark.

Question:
Who is your main inspiration in terms of your dancing and were you influenced at all by James Brown?

Chris Brown:
James Brown was definitely one of the influences because Michael Jackson was influenced by James Brown. Michael Jackson would be my creator because without him, I wouldn’t be dancing and singing because when I was 2 years old I was watching everything. I had all of the routines down and everything and I was like “That’s who I want to be like.” And when I got my chance to do it I went for it. I still portray myself and have my own style, but at the same time, I was influenced by him. And of course James Brown paved the way first.

Question:
How do you want your next album to go?

Chris Brown:
I want it to be “Thriller”. I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t think that the first album was “Off the Wall”, but think it could have been “My Way” by Usher. Not to compare all these albums together, but I think it was a good first album. Especially being young, to capture everyone’s attention. Now the next album is really supposed to hit them in the mouth.

Question:
When does it come out?

Chris Brown:
It comes out in – well I wanted it to come out on May 5th – that’s my 18th birthday, but we have so many producers to work with. I’ve only worked with Eric Hudson and the Underdogs. Eric Hudson produced Entourage for Omarion. I did a couple joints [Editor’s note: Joints in this usage does NOT refer to marijuana. It means he did a couple of songs.]and I wrote a lot of songs with him, as well as, with and the Underdogs. I have Will.i.am., Kanye, Timberland, Swiss Beat, Pharell, Scott Storch, Brian Cox, I have so many producers I’m working with. That’s why I said I want it to be a Thriller album. I wanna bring you all the hits on one, I don’t want to have you on3 songs and you turn the album off. I want you to play it from top to bottom and love every song.

Question:
Have you met Michael Jackson and talked to him? Does he know how much he has inspired you?

Chris Brown:
Yeah I did the World Music Awards with him in London. I actually performed Thriller. I met him and I tried to keep my manly composure and I was like “Umm Dude Umm, you know umm, I ummm. Man, I love you man!” It was an honor just to meet him. You know to meet someone who influenced me and my music. We talked about doing a record. We talked to his manager and my manager and we’re going to see if we can put together a record. That would be a dream come true for me.

Question:
You seem like a natural on screen.

Chris Brown:
Thank you! I was waiting for everyone to respond “ Aw he can’t act he can’t act”

Question:
Have you gotten any response from the OC?

Chris Brown:
Actually the people who are around and they called me and they said, “Chris you did a really good job.” And I actually saw it last night. I missed it when it aired because I was on a plane and I think personally, I did a great job with this being my first time acting on a big t.v. show.

Question:
How much longer are you on the O.C.?

Chris Brown:
I’ve got two more episodes. I was going to do the whole season, but with my schedule – I’m doing a new movie and a new album and I just don’t have the time.

Question:
Plus the show was just cancelled.

Chris Brown:
[laughs] Yeah the show was canecelled. And its not my fault.

Question:
What’s this movie you’re doing?

Chris Brown:
It’s called “This Christmas” actually colubus short is in as well as Nia long, Lauren London, regina King, Loretta Devine. Everyone under the sun is in it. It’s going to be a great great movie.

Question:
What role do you play?

Chris Brown:
I play “Baby”. Everyone is the star of the movie. It doesn’t just focus on one character. My character sneaks off – I’m 17 18 years old but I got a lot of girls and I ride a motorcycle and stuff – it’s just this young rebel teenager. It’s a comedy. I’m not dancing, but I am singing.

Question:
Singing, Acting Dancing – Rank them

Chris Brown:
Singing 100; dancing 100; acting 99. I would say that because I’m just getting into acting and I’m just starting to love it. I can’t compare it to singing and acting. Those are my passions. If I’m not singing, I’m dancing. If, I’m not dancing, I’m singing.

Question:
Being a role model – my 8 year old cousin wants to be you. How are you handling the weight of that.

Chris Brown:
Just trying to stay positive and not getting sidetracked. It’s easy to get sidetracked especially with girls. I mean I get sidetracked sometimes – of course, but I mean just focusing on what’s at hand and what not to do to not let people down. I don’t want to let anyone down. You said 8 years old, I have a wide range of fans from 3 years old to like 40. It’s great to know that I have people like that who look up to me. It means that I have a bigger job and I bigger calling that god has sent me on, so I know what to do.

Question:
Did you know that when you got this part you wanted to continue on acting?

Chris Brown:
When I got the call, I was on tour and stuff, so I only had two days of rehearsal for the dancing and maybe 1 day of rehearsal for the lines. So that was cool, but I was already focused on acting and I was like “I’m ready to do whatever movies ya’ll got for me.” But not knowing that you can act or that you try to act – it’s not like people say its like – that rappers and singers get the roles easy because of who they are. Yes you get roles because of your status, but at the same time you have to prove to the director or the producer that you can do it otherwise you won’t get the part. If you can’t pull it off, they are not going to be able to use you. It’s still a test for even the top actors, you know what I’m saying?

Question:
How are you preparing yourself as an actor?

Chris Brown:
Preparing myself definitely? For the movie I just went raw talent – well at least I hope it’s raw talent. I just went out there and I remembered the lines and I took the character into my own hands and I was like, “Okay this is how we do it… I got a brother and I have to interact with him.” Now? I can see that you can always better yourself by doing something like practicing and getting an acting coach and stuff like that. But as far as this new movie “this Christmas” this is also a movie that I haven’t had any acting training with. During filming, I’ll probably get an acting coach to come on to the set and practice with me before the scenes so I can get the whole feeling of my character Baby. It’s gonna be all good.

Question:
Did you stay on set and watch some of the college scenes being filmed?

Chris Brown:
I actually looked at some of them.

Question:
Did it inspire you at all? Is it something you think you might want to do?

Chris Brown:
To join a fraternity? I already know my schedule so I know where my mind is going to be at so I already know that I can’t go to a college campus and join a fraternity. But at the same time. I can do college courses. It h ink watching it will inspire the youth. I’m a 12th grader you I know. So everybody from middle school to the 12th grade – they all have the ambition to go to college. But kids today are bored in the class, they can now focus on something other than just their school. They can go to college and do their school work and do great but at the same time do something else that is going to interest them and at the same time be positive.

Question:
Were you disappointed that you didn’t get to Step?

Chris Brown:
I was a little bit. But at the same time, I’m going let them have that- let them do their thing. Because I love the fact that their aren’t a whole lot of number 1 star actors in the movie. There is something that is for all of us. Ne-yo, Columbus Scott, Megan Good – everyone one of us has an important role in the movie. So I didn’t want to be like “ I don’t want the role of Duron” and just be a Stepper. I could see that I can dance, I showed them that in the beginning.

Question:
You said you are a 12th grader. Are you actually going to regular school or are you taking courses over the internet.

Chris Brown:
I wish I could. I actually take online courses. I go to an online school. I was actually doing school work before I came down here to talk with you. I do school and stuff like that and maintain my grades. Which goes back to that other thing, I try to do all that I can to be a role model, you know showing kids that it is cool to get an education.

Question:
How do you stay focused in all of this?

Chris Brown:
Look I don’t even know. Seriously. The number one thing that takes my focus away is girls. I’m going to be honest. If I see a room full of girls, I’m not going to be able to focus on what they want me to do. I’m gonna go in that room, “Hey, how y’all doin?” an we’re just chillin’. But it’s kinda different for me because Being young, you know in the back of your head what’s’ wrong and what’s right and sometimes you get led to the wrong. But you still know what to do and you come back and say , “okay this what I need to do.” And being focused is not hard when you love something. When I’m focused on music, I’m writing, I’m in the studio, I’m singing. I’m trying to do anything I can do. With acting. I’m studying lines o or I’m trying to get the next role. Whatever it is. And when it comes to dancing, I’m just dancing all the time. You might see me dancing at the airport- anywhere.

Question:
Your Grammy nominations – has it sunk in yet??

Question:
Yeah yeah. You know I just found out that I’m performing on the Grammys.

Chris Brown:
It’s incredible and I’m going to let you know right now it’s going be one of the hottest performances. We’re gonna do old school – we’re gonna do “Run it” but we are going to put it to the Stomp the Yard idea. We’re gonna put forth that effort 100% to go hard and really show y’all a different side everything you’ve seen be it on the BET awards or Vibe or any other performance I’ve done like on the Soul Train awards. It’s going to be different this time so y’all can see my growth.

Question:
Are you going to bring up some of the Steppers?

Chris Brown:
Yeah we’re going to have a quick little break were we break it down.

Question:
How do you stay focused when you have girls screaming for you and the age group you are dealing with; you have their moms screaming too?

Chris Brown:
That’s what drives me in the show whether it’s the Scream Tour or the Up Close and Personal Tour – any tour that I’m on- radio shows and stuff. That’s what I love. I love attention. I just go out there and jump on stage and if I see a gang of girls? That makes me just dance even more. It’s like when you’re in the mall with your Boys and you try to be flyer than all of them so you can get a girl. Or you’re at a basketball game and ou see the cheerleader or the girls in the bleachers- you’re gonna try to show off just a little bit. So when I’m on stage, that’s what makes me show off a little bit more. Just do my dances a little bit harder and go after it a little bit harder. Go at 110%

Question:
How do you stay out of trouble though?

Chris Brown:
Stay out of trouble? Hmm it’s hard.

Question:
Because girls are a lot different than they were back in the day.

Chris Brown:
Yeah they are a lot different. I’m going to be honest. Sometimes you get into trouble but at the same time you can be smart about it. Be yourself and have the right people around you. Have the right team around you to make sure that you are on the right path and not straying away from what you were put on here to do.

Question:
How do you stay focused when you have girls screaming for you and the age group you are dealing with; you have their moms screaming too?

Chris Brown:
That’s what drives me in the show whether it’s the Scream Tour or the Up Close and Personal Tour – any tour that I’m on- radio shows and stuff. That’s what I love. I love attention. I just go out there and jump on stage and if I see a gang of girls? That makes me just dance even more. It’s like when you’re in the mall with your Boys and you try to be flyer than all of them so you can get a girl. Or you’re at a basketball game and you see the cheerleader or the girls in the bleachers- you’re gonna try to show off just a little bit. So when I’m on stage, that’s what makes me show off a little bit more. Just do my dances a little bit harder and go after it a little bit harder. Go at 110%

Question:
Do you have a parent who travels with you?

Chris Brown:
My mom traveled with me the first two years. A lot people thought I was 16 when “Run It” came out because that’s what the record said, but I was actually 15. By the time May 5th rolled around and I turned 16, the record was already a hit and people were like “He’s been 16 for two years!” So my mom was around putting down the regulation, but now that I’m getting ready to turn 18 and becoming more mature, she’s let me be a man and make my own mistakes and find out the hard way, but I don’t think I’m gonna make no mistakes.

Question:
Having Ne-yo on the set, how would you say that influenced you?

Chris Brown:
Well I knew Ne-Yo before he was signed because my manager signed him to Def Jam after she signed me to Def Jam. He’s down to earth you , know. And I mean his pen has been crazy for awhile [Editor’s Note – pen is crazy – this means he writes very well. His songs are amazing] . With him being on the movie, a lot of people didn’t know that he could dance. I already knew that he could and I always told him that he should do it in a video and show people that he knows how to dance. He would just say, “Man, I’ll let you do that. I’ll dance a little it, but I’m not dancing a lot.” But when they see the movie, they are going to realize that he can dance and stuff. And he’s got flips in him. He can do everything. And he is a great actor. He did an incredible job in the movie and people are going to see that its not just to singers in a movie because they were popular at the time. No. We really got our acting on in this movie.

Question:
You said that you want more movies. Do you wants scripts where you can dance and sing or are you looking for roles where you can just solely act?

Chris Brown:
I don’t want to talk about myself in the 3rd person, but the Chris Brown that is in music, I want to keep away from the Christopher Brown in acting. In acting, I want to take on challenges like the Samuel L. Jackson movie “Home of the Brave” as well as something like Denzel’s new movie “The Great Debaters”. Or just do parts that people won’t normally see me in. Like when I’m on the O.C. I’m playing a whole different part than Chris Brown. I want t o do stuff that strays away from my music, but at the same time I can still do movies like that. Action movies. I’m good at Martial Arts and Boxing. Stuff like that. I’m very physically fit to do action movies. I just want to do anything.

Question:
Do you tell your agent what type of films you want?

Chris Brown:
I just tell them to send me anything. I don’t even care about the cast. I mean, I’d love it if the cast was big, but it’s cool to have fresh raw talent like Columbus. He is an incredible I mean actor and he is fresh on the scene and that’s great for me.

Question:
How’d you get on the soundtrack? Did they just ask you to do a song?

Chris Brown:
The song “Poppin” was on the album and I came to them and they were going to use it and everything. They were going to pay for the video and I kinda direct my own videos so I came to them and I was like I have this crazy concept that’s going to bring Steppin’, Columbus, Megan, Ne-Yo all into the video and then we had a remix with Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana so we were going to incorporate that video tremendously into the movie. It was going to be incredible. I’m talking like a 9 minute video. But it was just too difficult with the budget stuff then they switched the whole production of the soundtrack. So the ended up not doing the video, but I was like you can just keep the song for the soundtrack. If we had done the video, it would have showcased why we picked “Poppin”, but it was great.

Question:
This movie is really about being a man and establishing your personal character. Developing your manhood. Aside from music and dance ,who is your biggest influence in your personal life.

Chris Brown:
Harry Belafonte. I mean what he has done in his career in terms of longevity and helping out and giving back. That’s one inspiration, but at the same time you always have your people that don’t get recognized; the choreographers that help you out. Or my father. I don’t mention him sometimes, but definitely my father who is very much heavily in my life. But at the same time, every guy who strives to be positive in his life.

Question:
Are you surprised at all by your success? Definitely. That’s why I’m happy everyday. It never was like “Yeah, I knew this was coming” I had an idea that it might, but I didn’t know what my potential was at all. And I didn’t know that people were going to believe in me as an artist and as an actor, so I definitely look at it as a blessing. So don’t mess it up or God will take it away.

Question:
Where’d you get that Sweatshirt?

Chris Brown:
I got this from Up Against The Wall. It’s some new line that I forgot about. I got a Wolverine one and this Spiderman one. I’m still young so I like all the comic book stuff and the loud shirts and everything. Me and a coupla other guys made up my style we call it “Rebel Hiphop”. It’s me and couple of my dancers and Juelz and Lil Wayne –it’s not Rock and Roll, Skateboard, or Hiphop but it is a blend of all of them. Like skull heads and glitter belts, nice sneakers and jeans. We rock hoodies and stuff. Nice stuff but keeping it young, but in the price range where the kids can get it.

Question:
Is that something you want to do? Go with a fashion line?

Chris Brown:
Definitely. A Target line or a Walmart brand. And at the same time have my own line that is a little more expensive for the ballers or whatever. But as far as the kids, I would really like to have something at Target or whatever. You know most people are middle class or whatever. I wasn’t middle class, I was poor – I wasn’t even middle class. So I know how people are when they go shopping. If they an see me rockin’ something and having a good time and they want it too and it’s cheap, then BAM that’s good for them.

Question:
Since you aren’t in school. Who d o you call “friend”? Do you have someone who travels with you?

Chris Brown:
Man I meet so many people. I’m very friendly. I’m very outgoing anyway so I might click with you and you’re my homie all day. I’ve got friends I met on videos sets. I have a best friend named little Meho, he’s a crumper – a crump dancer. His situation is bad at home so he came and stayed ith me the whole Christmas break. The whole two weeks that I had off, he just came and chilled with me at my house. So there’s him and I got a coupla friends out here. My friends back home that I used to go to high school with. They’re my homies so I just chill with them when ever I’m back home. I just call them and everything. Ex- girlfriends- well I don’t try to call them as much because they are ex- for a reason. Even artist. Omarion is one of my closest friends even though people try to compare us and make us go against each other. I mean I went out and bought his album. That’s my homie. Definitely Ne-Yo. Columbus is one of my friends. Lil Bow-Wow. Of course we did a record together, but we were friends prior to that. I just build a lot of friendships and I think that is key – just having a lot of friends.

Question:
You have a lot of confidence in music what did it feel like to walk on a set and do something you’ve never done before?

Chris Brown:
I was nervous because I didn’t know if everyone was going to be 100% nice because you hear stories about getting yelled at or kicked off the set. I thought is was going to be “GET YOUR LINE RIGHT. GET OFF OF MY SET.!” I thought he was going to be just over the edge. But when I got there, everybody was like family. Everybody was happy. They were cool and just chillin. I was cool.

Question:
Did you do your dancing first or did you do a scene first?

Chris Brown:
We split it up. One day we would do the acting scenes then maybe the next day we would do all of the dancing scenes. Then go back to the acting scenes. I think the first 3 days we knock out all of the acting scenes. For the dancing – we did some of the longest dancing – some of that stuff you saw was really battle in the movie. It was like okay the script says we win, so we win. But the losing team really wanted to beat us. They weren’t like we’re going to lose because the script says so. We’re going to show you that you won, because the script says so. So when you see the movie and the bonus features that are going to be on the DVD, you can see the intensity. You see the interaction and stuff. I remember this on girl they call her “old thang” and she was a dancer and I danced with her but she was rival and we were really going at it and she jumped up on me and put her legs around me and I picked her up like I was going to slam her. We were really going at it. That wasn’t choreographed at all. We had fun, but it was really a battle. But we had a lot of fun and you’ll see that in the bloopers on the DVD

Don't forget to check out interviews with Ne-Yo and Columbus Short!