"Puerto Ricans, sit down!" producer John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) yelled out to audience laughter at the premiere of Illegal Tender in Manhattan Monday night. As some people milled around, he added, "Oh, some Dominicans snuck in!" inspiring another round of chuckles and gentle hissing. After all, African-American Singleton was made an "honorary Latino" after producing writer-director Frank Reyes's thriller. Singleton said he learned a little bit of Spanish on set, too.
At the after-party at Marquee, go-go dancers mingled with regular boogiers, and Singleton told Radar about a behind-the-scenes moment on set. The Reggaeton star Tego Calderon, who was acting in his first film, "wanted to leave the first night of work; he didn't want to be in the movie anymore 'cause he didn't know he'd have to stay up all night. He stayed. He had to go a concert in Miami."
Calderon told Radar: "It wasn't a concert. I wanted to go home."
Next for Calderon, he says, is a comedy with Luis Guzman, which Singleton will direct. Singleton also confirmed that he plans to work with Halle Berry in Tulia, his 2008 film now in pre-production. "Hopefully, she's not pregnant—if she's not pregnant. I don't think she's pregnant," he said.