All Eyez On Him! Demetrius talks to City Times about doppelganger Tupac

DO YOU HAVE a famous doppelganger? Maybe you bear an uncanny resemblance to someone off the TV? On the Metro we definitely come across our fair share of Chris Hemsworth and Rihanna lookalikes every day (yeah, right!), but we're not sure if they could ever make a living from it. This is where the 'casual likeness' brigade and actor Demetrius Shipp Jr. differ. Such are the 28-year-old's duplicate features of the late, great rapper Tupac Shakur, that in a few side-by-side shots, you'd be hard-pressed to pick out the genuine article. From those naturally lined, thoughtful eyes, to the distinctive studded nose, to that occasional million-watt smile, Demetrius is a carbon copy, which is fortunate as he comes to our screens in his feature debut this weekend, portraying the musician in biopic, All Eyez On Me.
"Growing up I always used to get comments, but it wasn't until I started auditioning for the part that I shaved my head and did all those things," Demetrius told us over the phone from Los Angeles. Responding to an inquiry about the remarkable physical similarity between himself and Shakur, the actor said he was always flattered by the comparisons in his youth as, "he was a good looking guy." It wasn't until production began, however, that Demetrius went the whole nine yards, cutting his hair and donning the nose stud, to finesse his natural advantage.
Looks aside, there were myriad factors contributing to Demetrius' suitability for the part in one of the most anticipated life-to-screen adaptations of an American performer. Shakur's music continues to be heard across the globe to this day, but is keenly appreciated in California, the state in which he became an adopted native, moving there at the age of 17 and later releasing perhaps his most successful track California Love. Demetrius is Carson, California, born and bred thus feels the tracks tend to "resonate more". Then there's the more personal connection - Demetrius' father, Shipp Sr., was a producer on the Shakur album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (actually released after the rapper's death in 1996), so knew and worked with the artist. Shipp Sr. was just one of a number of people who surrounded Shakur, upon whom Demetrius was able to call for research. Artists including Snoop Dogg and Jada Pinkett Smith who feature heavily in Shakur's life story, while not providing specific advice prior to filming, have since remarked positively on Demetrius' portrayal even if there have been questions raised over the plot's dramatic licence.       
"The comments I've had have been great. These guys knew him and they said I have done a good job," Demetrius said. "I want to watch it again since I've heard what Jada said!"
Although, how did he find treading the fine line between making the role his own as opposed to rolling out a 140-minute long impersonation?
"Being able to completely embody him is acting. That's the stamp I put on it as an actor. He is so loved and respected, it was hard to capture that, but I'm happy with it.
"This movie is a crash course in Tupac. We did the best job we could with what we had and you will see why he became so loved and cherished and then everything that went wrong in his life. It's all up there on screen."
And what of the aftermath? What are Demetrius' thoughts on Shakur since absorbing his persona and coming out the other side?
"I'm definitely more a fan of the man than the rapper now," he said. "I learnt about his life and the difficulties he faced and now everyone else will too."
What's next on the horizon?
"I don't want to do another biopic. I'm open to anything, but I want to take a completely new character and bring it to life."
Have you ever been to Dubai?
"No I never have but I can't wait to come. I have heard so much about it and watch a lot of those documentaries on Nat Geo. It's all about those man-made things like the Palm Jumeirah and the tallest hotel in the world. I'm going to get there."
You can catch All Eyez On Me when it opens in the UAE on June 29.
david@khaleejtimes.com