Adrien Brody Recalls Bonding with Tupac and Doing ‘Thug Life’ Graffiti Together

Adrien Brody recalls the early days of his career and spending time with an unlikely friend.

The Brutalist actor, 51, took a stroll down memory lane with Variety. In the conversation, the actor said he considered his breakout role to be the 1996 film Bullet, starring Mickey Rourke and Tupac Shakur.

“Working with ’Pac was amazing. He was incredibly focused. We hung out a lot when we did the movie,” Brody recalls.

“We spent a lot of time together, and he became quite close with Mickey. And Mickey really took me under his wing at that time.”

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Recalling nights out together, the actor says the rapper was already well into his career, but hadn’t reached the peak of his mega stardom just yet.

“He had a big rap career, but he was not ‘Tupac’ yet. He didn’t even have ‘Thug Life’ tattooed on his chest yet,” Brody noted.

“We were writing graffiti together, and he was writing ‘Thug Life.’ I didn’t know what he was referencing.”

In addition to Bullet, Shakur was also known for roles in Juice, Above the Rim, Gang Related and Poetic Justice.

The rap legend was killed in a drive-by shooting in 1996, one block off the Las Vegas strip. He was 25 years old.

His murder has remained unsolved, though police recently searched a house in suburban Las Vegas for evidence tied to the 1996 homicide.