Oct 17 2007 4:08 PM EDT
Chris Brown's 'Christmas' Gift: Check Out An Exclusive Clip From The Flick!
The singer/actor wins over Columbus Short and other co-stars with a smooth rendition of a classic song.
By Larry Carroll
He's already conquered the worlds of music and dance, and now MTV News has the first look as Chris Brown brings both to the silver screen for his first starring movie role, in next month's family drama "This Christmas."
When we visited the set of the movie earlier this year, we found an energetic Brown working hard to make a dent in Hollywood. Now that he's given us an early holiday surprise with this exclusive clip, fans can get an idea of whether he'll be able to bring it on the big screen.
"I'm singing some old-school songs, and hopefully I do justice to them," he said at the time. "One is called 'Try a Little Tenderness,' and of course there's Donny Hathaway's 'This Christmas.' ... It's been a good time and a great adventure, just to tackle those songs and try to have fun with them."
In the clip, Baby emerges onstage at a nightclub, surprising several members of his family, including troublemaking big brother Quentin (Idris Elba, who also appeared in "The Reaping"). Although the group initially wants to rescue him from the spotlight, Baby wins them over with a smooth rendition of "Try a Little Tenderness," a classic song that has been performed by everyone from Bing Crosby to Tina Turner.
Brown, who previously had a blink-and-you-missed-it cameo in "Stomp the Yard," once again shares the screen with friend and "Stomp" star Columbus Short. The film tells the story of a large Los Angeles family whose members have headed off in various directions over the years, but suddenly find themselves together at home for their first shared holiday in a long time. Brown plays Michael "Baby" Whitfield, the affectionately nicknamed youngest member of the clan who is hiding his secret desire to sing.
"I'm the youngest on this set, period," Brown said when he was shooting the flick, which he hopes will become a holiday-viewing tradition along the lines of "A Christmas Story." "Everybody else in here is like 20 and older, so I am feeling like the little baby. Which is funny, because I actually am 'Baby' in the movie — and I feel like a baby."
"This Christmas" opens on November 21 and, if it can manage as big an opening as "Stomp," who knows how far Hollywood newbie Chris Brown will go.
"Yo, they need to put me in a sci-fi film!" he previously said of his future plans. "I'd like to be a mass murderer [villain] in a sci-fi movie. Let's go all the way!"
http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/artic...17/story.jhtml
