“I’ve read a lot of false information about how the Wu-Tang Clan came together,” says original Wu-Tang member—and award-winning actor, producer, performer, and entrepreneur—Method Man (Clifford Smith). “About how certain individuals weren’t original members and this, that, and the third. I personally did not like the fact that I was put in a light where I was someone who was brought into the Wu-Tang; I grew up with these guys. I just want to clear that up because people put out false narratives. It catches on and next thing you know, that’s my bio.”
In his 30-year career, Method Man has built an impressive and lengthy bio. He’s appeared on hundreds of songs, including on seven Wu-Tang studio albums and seven solo albums, and has done collaborations with Redman (Reginald Noble) as well as a wide range of other artists. As an actor, he’s been in a plethora of movies and TV shows. Here, the Grammy and NAACP Image Award winner talks with Lisa Robinson about fame, acting, life in hip-hop, and the Wu-Tang Clan’s Las Vegas residency.
Vanity Fair: You have so many jobs—Wu-Tang member, performer, half of the Method Man–Redman duo, and actor, including roles in The Wire, The Deuce, Soul Plane, How High, Trainwreck, Garden State, and, currently, Power Book II: Ghost. I stopped counting at over 50 movies and 40 TV shows. Is acting your priority at the moment?
Method Man: Absolutely. I only rhyme because I want to now, not because I have to.
Going back to The Wire—you played Melvin “Cheese” Wagstaff, and at the time many people thought of that series as a good TV show; everyone didn’t consider it as prophetic and epic a work as it’s regarded now. How did it feel working on it?
I think, at the time, everybody looked at it like a great TV show. But for the actors and the people who cut their teeth on set every day, the people who put the whole project together—we knew it was more than just a TV show.
So many people from the hip-hop world have acted, or currently are acting, in major projects: from Tupac Shakur to Ice Cube, Queen Latifah, Ice-T, LL Cool J, Common, RZA—Mary J. Blige is with you in Power—and many more. Do you think performing in rap videos lent itself to acting?
I like to think so. When you’re an entertainer, performing a record onstage, you’re a performer. And a lot of my colleagues took time out to learn the craft and are doing well in the industry. That’s a testament to everyone else who’s in our genre or from our era; it’s never over. I took acting classes with Ivana Chubbuck, and if you put your mind to it and work really hard, you can be in the same position.
You’ve formed a production company (Six AM) and said you want to produce more. Why?
Acting is fun—I love acting—but sometimes, the way these stories are being told, especially Black stories, I don’t feel they’re as authentic as they could be. And that’s not a slight against any of the writers who aren’t Black or from the same area that I’m from. It’s just a certain flavor that you have. Let’s equate it with food. Certain people like their steak with the dry rub, salt on it, the whole thing, and other people don’t like any seasoning. They just want it cooked and just want it to taste like meat. It’s a preference.