Q&A Nelly

By Rebecca Winters

Currently on the road with his Sweat/Suit tour, the rapper Nelly plays a jailhouse running back in Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard.

Your co-stars resemble Shrek, yet your stunt double was a bench warmer. You weren't afraid to get hurt?

I've played football since I was 11. I was always the smallest guy out there. I can run fast, so I don't get tackled.

Are we really supposed to buy the Waterboy as a quarterback?

Yeah. That's actually [Sandler] throwing the ball, taking snaps. He worked it. In the original, Burt Reynolds was one of those slick quarterbacks with pizazz who all the girls loved, like a Joe Montana. When Adam played it, he reminded me of a blue-collar, scrappy type like Brett Favre.

What's behind the sudden emergence of rapper-thespians?

We come with our own built-in audiences. And we're already used to remembering lines. Not to take anything away from actors. I don't think I'm ready to do a role where I have to cry. I like the action--kick a little ass, save the pretty girl.

You co-own a NASCAR team, and you've done a duet with Tim McGraw. Are you trying to break racial stereotypes in entertainment?

I'm trying to make money, sweetheart. I'm an entrepreneur.

Any theories on why your songs are in such heavy rotation in strip clubs?

I'm popular with females. Strippers are females. My songs are easy to dance to. That's part of their job description.

With a song called Pretty Toes, you're a foot man, I assume?

Hands and feet. My mother told me if a woman can't take care of her hands and feet, she definitely can't take care of you.