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      *Today’s opening of “ATL” holds double meaning for star Tip T.I. Harris. It marks the end of his pursuit to find a movie role that would prove his talent to non-believers, and the beginning of what he hopes will be a long career both in front of and behind the film camera.

      “I just always planned to expand into other entities of entertainment, fashion, movies, I just always had a love for it,” beams T.I., who says a lot of opportunities have come his way since news of his casting in the urban drama. “I’m developing a film production company, Grand Hustle Films, and I’m working on scripts. I don’t wanna just read scripts no more, I wanna green light movies.”

      It may seem like a cart-before-the-horse move by someone whose only previous acting experience was starring as himself on “The O.C.,” but the Atlanta native has always thought two or three chess moves ahead. The proactive hustle was present as he took the bold move of crowning himself “King of the South” as a rapper.

       T.I., born Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr., says his drive in the film business is not a byproduct of his ambitious maneuvers in the rap game, but rather a mirror of the same hustle that put money in his pocket as a rapper.       

       “I don’t think [success in acting] is nothing that you just automatically get as a rapper, or as a performer, it’s just something in certain people,” he explains. “Certain people just have a desire to win at whatever they do. Acting is just another way for me to express my will to win.  I wanna be the best at everything.”      

       His best was good enough this time around for “ATL” producer Dallas Austin, who auditioned the rapper several times before casting him as 17-year-old Rashad, the caretaker of his younger brother Ant (Evan Ross) following the death of their mother and father. Rashad struggles to keep his little brother on the right path despite outside influences in their South Atlanta neighborhood – particularly a local drug dealer named Marcus (Antwan “Big Boi” Patton) who promises Ant the quick money and street cred he so desperately wants.

      After first reading the script, T.I. says the role of Rashad was the only character he wanted to play if cast in the flick.

       “I felt that the only thing that would show growth was Rashad,” he says. “This is the only thing I felt would give me what I wanted to portray to other people, you know, showing talent as an actor. I could’ve went and played Marcus real easy, but that’s expected. I could’ve played Ant real easy, but that’s expected.”

      What wasn’t expected was the role of Rashad being handed to T.I. as a homeboy hookup from Austin. When the actor tried out unsuccessfully for Austin’s 2002 film “Drumline,” the budding rapper left the filmmaker with some parting words.

      “I told him next time he did a movie, I better be in it,” laughs T.I.. “He did another movie, but it wasn’t just given to me. He just gave me the opportunity. ‘Okay, I’m doing another movie, you want it? Okay, here. Go get it.’”

      On the day he actually got it, T.I. said the phone call offering him the part came literally days before shooting was to begin in his hometown. 

       “I had just found out my album went platinum and then they called me and said, ‘We need you to stop doing everything you’re doing now and focus on this.’ Alright cool," says T.I. “That’s basically how I found out. I was excited, but I was overwhelmed with responsibility like, damn, how I’ma do all this? Because I had the ‘Hustle & Flow’ soundtrack I was doing at the time, and we just had all kinds of things I had going.”

       But once “ATL” was added to his schedule, T.I. made it priority number one, even going a step beyond just learning his lines to ensuring that his city was represented properly on the screen.      

        “I couldn’t have been involved if it wasn't,” he says. “If it wasn’t authentic and it wasn’t real and true to life, I couldn’t do it. I told people that everyday. My face is too good. I felt I built this city with my bear hands down there, man - at least a certain section and a certain entity of it.       

       “I can’t discredit Big Boi or Ludacris or [Andre] 3000, or J.D., none of the other artists from Atlanta who put it where it needs to be, but if it’s a house, I got a couple bricks in there. And I can’t let it go to waste by being a part of something that nobody else is as passionate about as I am.”

      The 25-year-old also took it upon himself to act as a father figure to his co-stars who do not have roots in the Peach State.

       “I took everybody under my wing. I felt like I was responsible for everybody, because I was the only one from Atlanta,” he says, “It’s my city, and if anything go down, I got to see about it.”      

       The protective nature of Rashad toward Ant extended off camera between T.I. and Evan Ross, the 17-year-old son of Diana Ross whose childhood years growing up on the private Tahitian island of Taino was about as far removed from his “ATL” character as crunk music is to classical.

       “Evan, he’s a cool kid,” T.I. says with a smile. “He’s not close-minded to only his way of life. He’s very knowledgeable that he’s different from most people, so he understands that if he’s in this [‘ATL’] scenario or environment, he’s learning. He ain’t coming to the hood and trying to act like he knows everything. That ain’t his environment and he understands that. That’s all you can really ask of somebody, you know.”       

       “He said he’s gonna let me come kick it on his island,” the rapper adds. In the meantime, T.I. has the movie and his new album to promote. Released Tuesday, “King” features contributions from a wide spectrum of artists – from Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker, to Common and Pharrell, to B.G. and Young Jeezy. Also on board are Jamie Foxx, Mannie Fresh, Swizz Beatz and Just Blaze.      

       The title “King” was not chosen lightly. He waited patiently through two albums before deeming a collection of songs worthy enough for the self-proclaimed title.      

       Some thought “Trap Muzik” should’ve been named ‘King of the South,’” T.I. says of his 2003 breakout album.

      “I felt like if I ever named the album ‘King,’ it has to be unanimous, undisputed, hands down the album of my career whenever I did it. And I think that this album is,” his majesty informed us.  

      For more info about "ATL," visit www.atlthemovie.com.

                                             --- World's Largest Electric Slide Line ---

Families for Children (www.familiesforchildren.org), will hold its 3rd Annual Child Abuse Prevention Walk  & Family Festival (CAP Walk) at The Forum,  located at 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood (CA) on Saturday, April 8 from 9 a.m. until 3 pm.  Thousands are expected to participate in the event, which raises funds and increases awareness about child abuse and prevention.  This years event will be more exciting than ever with additional events planned; A Peanut Carnival, A Story Telling Tent, and the featured event: THE WORLDS LARGEST ELECTRIC SLIDE LINE.  (04-07)