It sort of flew over my head at the time, but last year, there were rumblings that there was trouble on the set of Neill Blomkamp‘s "Chappie." While the casting of South African hip hop duo Die Antwoord seemed like an inspired choice, Ninja was apparently earning the enmity of the cast of crew, reportedly criticizing acting choices, and in the words of one crew member, acting like "pure evil." Blomkamp was so fed up, he reportedly wound up reducing Ninja’s role in the movie. And one actor who became a particular focus of Ninja’s attitude was Brandon Auret, and he’s spoken out recently — sort of — about his dealings with the rapper.
In an interview with South Africa’s News 24 (via The Movies), Auret — who initially says he has "no comment" on working with Ninja — admits that the rapper was unprofessional and a total pain to work with, and his behavior "became an issue." But he softens the blow by adding that the "tension" off set created by the hip hop star "was great for the film." Maybe so, but perhaps it explains why Ninja and Yo-Landi are nowhere to be found in the press rounds for "Chappie."
We’ll see if Ninja provoked the drama needed for the movie out of his cast mates or not when the sci-fi flick opens on Friday. Until then, here are two new featurettes for the movie, including one focused on Die Antwoord in which Ninja explains that Zef-style means that "you literally don’t care what anybody else thinks of you." And it looks like he followed that belief right down to the last detail when making "Chappie."