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Outkasts no more
Big Boi and Andre 3000, the Southern odd couple who form the rap juggernaut Outkast, are now taking take their act to the big screen.

Outkast, the multiplatinum-selling rap duo from Atlanta, would like to clear up a few misconceptions about their feature-length musical, "My Life in Idlewild," opening March 10. First, says Andre "3000" Benjamin, the group's flamboyant clotheshorse, "Idlewild" is not a glorified music video. And, he says, it certainly is not about his and partner Antwan "Big Boi" Patton's rise to stardom à la Eminem's 8 Mile or 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'." "I would hope that if somebody does a movie on the Outkast story, they would get some actors to play us," he says, chuckling. "I'd want Leonardo DiCaprio to play me." Big Boi quickly chimes in: "I'd want John Leguizamo to play me."

If the Outkast story ever appears on the big screen, it should make for a rather compelling epic. Since putting southern hip-hop on the map more than a decade ago with their seminal debut, "Southernplayalistic," Outkast has been regarded as one of the most daring and innovative acts in music. Last year their double album "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" won three Grammys, including Album of the Year, on its way to selling nearly 6 million records. Andre says he's surprised by the success of the unconventional CD, which featured hits such as the Beatles-esque "Hey Ya!" and the soul-drenched "The Way You Move." "I wouldn't have bet on that album," Andre says. "There were too many risks."

The two men have never been afraid to take risks, and now their interest in film is yet another example of that. Their new movie, "Idlewild," set in 1930s Prohibition-era South, follows the lives of Percival (Andre), an awkward mortician who moonlights as a piano player, and Rooster (Big Boi), a swaggering bootlegger who runs a popular speak-easy. Percival is torn between staying in the family business or moving to the big city to pursue a music career. Rooster must fend off gangsters from taking over his club.

The film's accompanying soundtrack should include some interesting collaborations, says Bryan Barber, who directed "Idlewild" and a number of the group's music videos. Outkast may record songs with a few of their co-stars, including Terrence Howard and Ben Vereen.

Both on and off screen, the 30-year-old rappers, close friends since they met in high school, couldn't be more different. While Andre, a teetotaler and vegan, is the group's resident chunk of granola, Big Boi, a party boy who is partial to cognac, is the resident gangster. "Hang out one night with Andre and you're liable to go have a sushi dinner," Barber says. "Hang out with Big Boi and you're liable to go to a strip club."

In recent years the men have had to address rumors about a possible break-up. Don't expect one anytime soon, they both say. "We don't see each other like we used to, but when we do hang out," Andre says, "it's all cool and gravy, like it used to be."

-- Coco Deluni