WANTED: COMMON

LOS ANGELES -- Wanted is Common's first comic-book movie, but it might not be his last.

The hip-hop artist continues his transition into acting as the Gunsmith in the Friday-debuting Wanted, based on the Top Cow series by Mark Millar and J.G. Jones. But he's created just as many headlines as a possible Green Lantern in Warner Bros.' Justice League of America.

Common told The Continuum he auditioned for director George Miller and was "considered" for the role, but was careful to go any further, particularly since the film missed its original production start and seems to be in a state of flux.

"It was exciting. It was so hopeful man," Common said. "It was like, 'Man, I'm going to be part of something that is going to explode on the world.' It was going to be powerful. You felt like it was going to be a great project. JLA, man. George Miller.

"Just the start of it felt so good. JLA -- that's one of my favorite comics. You've got all these great characters. God willing, it may happen.

"I was enthused about being considered. I don't know what's happening. It's definitely divine timing with the right characters and the right actors at the right time of our careers. I would love to be Green Lantern. I was just started to get into digesting who he would be, John Stewart. I started reading so much about Green Lantern -- a cool character."

In Wanted, Common's Gunsmith is also a cool character.

"The Gunsmith is the master of the weaponry," he said. "If your gun has a problem, I'm fixing it. So I needed to know how to take apart guns and put them together. I needed to know the ins and outs of guns. I would follow the actual arms guy that was on the movie. I would sit with him in the truck and watch him fix these guns."

The character doesn't have many lines, but provides impetus for Wesley's transformation from a loser. Common said he created a backstory for the Gunsmith to help him with the role.

"He's really like a spiritual guy," he said. "You knew he could kick your ass and shoot good, but he also wasn't a beast. He wasn't just using it for evil. He really wanted to train Wesley to become, not only good at weaponry, but to become a warrior, mentally, spirtually and emotionally. "

Morgan Freeman, who plays Sloan, gave Common solid advice, he said.

"He reminded me to be alive in the scene, even if you're not speaking," Common said. "There's something going on. It was important for me, that whatever the Gunsmith's thoughts were, they needed to be there."

He said a lot of that comes from the work he put into the character beforehand.

"Once you get to that set, whatever you're given, you can roll with it," he said. "Because that character is alive. If they give me more dialogue, I'm able to spit it out and it's going to be in the form of the character. If that take away dialogue, there's no dialouge, the character's still alive in that scene because I know who the character is. The core of the character is there."

Common -- whose next film is Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins -- said he likes working in both worlds of acting and music.

"I feel a lot freer doing music because I'm doing movie," he said. "It takes pressure off the music. I'm actually having more fun with music because I'm doing movies. I guess that's just because it's not my only source of expression any more. Music is not my only source of that. And when you're doing other things, you can create your art from a freer place."