Though the bigger stars in America’s number one comedy hit “Tropic Thunder” have received the most attention, one of the co-stars, Brandon T. Jackson, who plays Alpa Chino, is receiving a lot of praise for his performance. Jackson swung through Atlanta recently as part of a six-city promotional tour for the movie and spoke about his role.

Alpa Chino is a hip-hop star turned actor appearing in a Vietnam War epic. Every Hollywood personality gets skewered in the comedy and Alpa Chino is certainly aimed at rap performers who are making their money with designer water and clothing lines, when not on stage or screen.

“Ben Stiller (the writer and director of ‘Tropic Thunder’) wanted to go over the top and hit all the rappers,” said Jackson, adding that there were many more Alpa Chino scenes shot that could wind up on the DVD release.

Jackson, 24, has appeared in a number of films and has been performing for a number of years, but he admitted that “Tropic Thunder” was unlike any set he had ever been on.

“The level of acting was intense,” Jackson said of his co-stars. “Robert (Downey Jr.) stayed in character the entire time and Ben was great as a director, wanting us to just come to the table and bring it.”

Jackson stated that with such seasoned comedic vets around, there was a lot of clowning around going on off set and he admitted there are worse ways to spend time than shooting for close to six months in Hawaii. However, with everything, a little rain must fall. Or in the case of this movie, a lot of rain.

“It rained like every two or three minutes,” Jackson joked. “We shot near an ancient burial ground and before filming we had the set blessed by a kahuna (a priestess). The minute the prayers started, a storm hit. We thought she was cursing the production.”

Jackson auditioned for the role 13 times and actually was the producer’s second choice. “They thought I was too young, but they liked my energy and brought me on board,” Jackson said.

Once he was chosen for the role, the hard work began. Jackson said that there was a mindset for war and a boot camp mentality with the filming.

“We fired M-60s from a helicopter,” Jackson stated, adding that the guns had a lot of kick back. “The bullets would fly back and hit our flak jackets and it was pretty intense.”

Since “Tropic Thunder” wrapped, Jackson has completed a film called “Days of Wrath” and will also star in a film called “Burning Sands.”

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