Hollywood Popular Artists

Apr 26th 2013, 22:37

Last week, WNBA's first overall draft pick Brittney Griner publicly came out as lesbian. "I've always been open about who I am and my sexuality," she told Sports Illustrated. "If I can show that I'm out and I'm fine and everything's OK, then hopefully the younger generation will definitely feel the same way." No big deal.

Yes big deal, actually.

For those who don't know much about sports, Brittney was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Final Four while playing for Baylor, and was selected No. 1 overall by the Phoenix Mercury. She's one of only seven women in history to dunk during a college basketball game, and at 6'8", stands two inches taller than Michael Jordan! Following in Jordan's footsteps, Brittney recently signed an endorsement deal with Nike.

Although people can't stop talking about what a phenomenal player Britney is, and rightfully so, the news of her coming out came and went faster than Kim Kardashian's musical career. But imagine if a highly regarded male NBA or NFL player were to do the same. Chances are the media would drop all the sports talk and obsess over his sexuality. Brittney's coming out is just as iconic and important as any other over the years -- male or female. Yes, women's basketball is seemingly more accepting of the gay community than, say, men's football is; however, the fact remains that both sexes struggle with their sexuality and others' acceptance (or lack thereof) on and off the court.

Celebrating -- or at least acknowledging -- Brittney's coming out shows people in less accepting communities that they can be who they are, love who they love, and be loved in return. It also demonstrates the importance of supporting LGBT athletes on and off the court. While Brittney's sexual preferences should never overshadow her accomplishments -- because who one chooses to love has absolutely nothing to do with what he or she can achieve athletically, or in any field of work -- we should at least show her the same love for coming out that we do every time she dunks a basketball.

"Don't worry about what other people are going to say, because they're always going to say something," Griner told Sports Illustrated. "If you're just true to yourself, let that shine through. Don't hide who you really are." We love who you are, Brittney. Even if you can't see us way down here.

In celebration of Brittney's success and the progress she's help build in the sports world, take action below to support LGBT athletes with the You Can Play Project.

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Apr 26th 2013, 21:30

The first footage from Edgar Wright's "The World's End" debuted as part of a run-down of summer movies. It only lasts about 1.5 seconds, but it's great.

Also, learn the difference between Marky Mark and the Rock in today's Dailies!

» Let's play "Marky Mark lyric or The Rock smacktalk"! [Vulture]

» Sam Mendes said that the idea of directing a "Skyfall" sequel made him "physically ill." [The Playlist]

» Can you find the 1.5 seconds of "The World's End"? [ComingSoon]

» "Hatchet III" trailer [AICN]

» "L.A. Confidential" sequel TV series in the works [Deadline]

Welcome to the Dailies, where the MTV Movies team runs down all the film and television news, odds and ends that are fit to print! From awesome fan art to obscure casting news, this is your place to feast on all the movie leftovers you didn't know you were hungry for.

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Apr 26th 2013, 20:34

FROM MTV NEWS

It's the end of the world as we know it, and Danny McBride has fallen off of the wagon a little. At least, that was the case when MTV News' Josh Horowitz visited the set of "This Is The End," the new apocalypse comedy starring McBride, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, James Franco, and Jonah Hill.

Rogen, who also co-directs with "Superbad" co-writer Evan Goldberg, said that an MTV show served as the inspiration for the intervention. "It's something that's actually inspired by a lot of 'Real World' episodes that we've seen," he said. "It's all of the roommates gathered around Danny, telling him that he either has to stop acting like a lunatic or they're kicking him out of the house."

Be sure to check out our entire set visit above. "This Is the End" opens in theaters on June 12.

Apr 26th 2013, 20:04

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc., which, to date, has raised more than $23 million. If you have a little extra cash to spare and want to give back to the Boston marathon victims, you're going to want to check out the products benefiting the Fund below!

In a display of how awesome people really are, so many businesses stepped up to help the victims immediately after the bombings. All of the proceeds from the six items below directly benefit The One Fund, which means there's no such thing as buyer's remorse when you shop these products.

For those of you who want to give back to Boston, here are our six of our favorite picks.

1. Transit band shirt

If you're in the market for a band t-shirt, this one's for you. Transit might be on tour now, but the band has roots in Boston. If you're following their tweets, you can tell they're heartbroken over what happened in their city and want to give back in any way they can. It's no surprise they jumped at the chance when someone offered to design a shirt for them. The result is this awesome t-shirt; buy it and 100 percent of the proceeds goes directly to One Fund!

2. OnHand wristbands

OnHand's BOSTON STRONG USB Wristbands are not only totally cool, but they're super practical! Everyone needs a USB flash drive, right? Wear your wristband as "a testament to the officers, emergency responders, and caring neighbors that went above and beyond the call of duty to quickly help those in need." All proceeds from the wristbands will be donated to The One Fund, so buy a couple for yourself and to hand out to your friends.

3. bic bands headbands

bic bands creates fashionable headbands, so it's no surprise the company's Boston Strong bands are downright awesome. The bands are only $12, and the entire purchase price goes directly to The One Fund. If you're going to rock a headband, we can't think of a better one than this one.

4. Saucony's Lace Plate 

If you're wondering what a lace plate is, you might want to dig those gym shoes out of your closet and pay attention. This is the perfect way for runners to give a nod to Boston while running around town. These #BostonStrong lace medallions are available for preorder now, and Saucony will donate 100 percent of the proceeds to The One Fund.

5. The Fish and Bone "Forever Boston" shirts

The Fish and Bone specializes in "urban pet essentials," but the business created a Forever Boston t-shirt that is perfect for your pet's best friend (that'd be you). The shirts, which read "Brave Loyal Fearless Strong Forever Boston," are also available for the tiny four-legged friend in your life. According to the site, all the proceeds will go directly to bombing victims and their families via The One Fund.

6. Run Boston Sweaty Bands

If you're going to buy anything with the word "sweaty" in the name, make sure it's this Sweaty Bands product. Another option for athletes looking to rep Boston during their workouts, all the proceeds from this Run Boston band will be donated to The One Fund. The bands are only $15, and there are plenty of colors to choose from, so pick your favorite and get your workout on!

For more information on how you can help the people of Boston affected by the bombings, take action below.

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Apr 26th 2013, 19:00

By Amelia Mularz

Nope, Mel Gibson's not involved. This one's all Mark Burnett, the producer who's partly to blame for giving Donald Trump his own show ("The Apprentice"), as well as Sarah Palin ("Sarah Palin's Alaska"), and his wife Roma Downey of "Touched by an Angel" fame. They're taking their 10-part TV miniseries for the History Channel and re-cutting it into a three-hour movie to be released this fall.

That means you'll be able to enjoy the story of Jesus and his resurrection the way God truly intended: with your feet resting on a Mountain Dew-saturated floor while clutching a box of Goobers. Plus, while heading to church can be a hassle (c'mon Sunday is for football!), Burnett's movie will give you a reasonable dose of the biblical for a measly $10-$14 "donation" to your nearest corporately operated, mass movie theater chain.

Then again, Burnett says they haven't settled on a venue for their film yet. Might we suggest skipping the movie version all together and moving straight into the theme park phase of the series? It'd be like the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but with a messiah focus.

There could even be a Hall of Biblical Hollywood, similar to the Hall of Presidents at Disney World. This area would feature all the past actors who've gotten down with Jerusalem for a movie role. There's Jim Caviezel who was Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ" and Will Ferrell who took on the savior in "Superstar." There's also Patrick Dempsey who once played Jeremiah, Steve Carell who took on Noah, and a whole slew of celebrity Satans, like Elizabeth Hurley, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and Christopher Walken.

Want to read the book version before seeing the movie? No not the actual Bible, silly! Burnett and Downey have also written a novel called "A Story of God and All of Us: A Novel Based on the Epic TV Miniseries 'The Bible.'"

If this movie really takes off, maybe we'll see religious flicks of all faiths popping up in the future. Fingers crossed for a sequel to John Travolta's Scientology thriller "Battlefield Earth." Or, what about a Torah flick with a hunky Moses?

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Apr 26th 2013, 19:06

During her junior year, Mareshia Rucker had fantasies about prom, but then it hit her that high school students in her county had two separate proms -- one for black students and one for white students. Now that she's a senior, Mareshia and some of her Wilcox County High classmates have spearheaded a campaign to make an integrated prom where all students may attend.

This story has gotten international attention, especially since many people were unaware that such a thing as segregated proms still existed. Thankfully the campaign has been a success, and a prom for everyone will be taking place this weekend. We spoke to Mareshia about what she had to do to make this happen, what sort of response she's gotten, and the biggest thing she's learned while fighting for her rights.

ACT: Many are thinking, "In 2013, this?!" Why were proms still segregated?

MARESHIA: Racism runs really deep in this county [Wilcox County, Georgia]. That's about it. Some whites in the community don't want their kids going to prom with black kids, or kids of any other race, which is really odd, considering that they do everything else together.

ACT: What have you and other students done to help change this?

MARESHIA: First I talked to my best friend to see if she agreed with me on the idea [of an integrated prom]. She did. So we asked classmates how they felt about it and what were they willing to do about it. Some of the more high class Caucasian kids in class didn't really want to talk about it and kind of ignored us, which is fine, too, because everyone has a right to their own opinion.

We got together, formed a committee, and we started planning basic things like where we were going to have the prom, who's going to be DJ, catering, things like that. Finally, we got to what kind of fundraisers we were going to have to raise money. The school doesn't sponsor prom, so we knew we had to raise the funds needed to carry this out. So we've done car washes, donut sales, raffle tickets, a lot of stuff.

Ms. Harriet Hollis, who established the Project for Racial Healing, has also been amazing. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have gotten our first interview. I think people give us a little too much credit, because if it weren't for her, people wouldn't know about us.

ACT: What has been the response, both locally and beyond?

MARESHIA: I mean, beyond our county the response has been amazing. You always have those few naysayers, but as far as everyone outside of our county, they've been completely supportive, willing to do whatever they can, whatever's in their ability to do to help out. As far as inside of our county, most people feel we're making the county look bad, that it wasn't this big of a deal and we shouldn't have done all this. But in our opinion, if they felt that it wasn't that big of a deal, then why couldn't their kids have prom with us, or we have prom with them? They have their nasty comments, their ugly looks.

ACT: What can people do to help this situation?

MARESHIA: A lot of people have messaged and called the superintendent and tried to talk to people on the school board. If enough people talk to you and they're all on the same page, eventually you're going to take that into consideration and hopefully apply it. It's been really helpful when people do that. Like I said, the few that don't agree . . . I mean, when they talk about cruel and unusual punishment, we've had some cruel and unusual words. So the support really does help, to know people outside care about what we're doing.

ACT: What are you hoping happens for next year's prom?

MARESHIA: I'm hoping that we actually change how the school is now. We're trying to make it so the school will sponsor one prom next year. Whether they do or not, we will be coming back to help, because we know how hard it is, and how much work it is.

ACT: What's the biggest thing you've learned from fighting for your right?

MARESHIA: That when you truly want something and you work and you fight hard to get that, people realize that all of us, no matter what we look like, are in essence the same. People have deemed the world to be a bad place, but it's actually quite nice. There have been people from all over the world who are in support of what we're doing and have been extremely encouraging.

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Apr 26th 2013, 18:00

Luc Besson has found a new butt-kicking lady to lead his next film: Scarlett Johansson. The "Don Jon's Addiction" actress is in final negotiations to play the main character in Besson's next film, "Lucy."

The action thriller is about a woman forced to become a mule for a drug that ends up transforming her into someone with superhuman powers, The Hollywood Reporter explains. According to the site, the female character can "absorb knowledge instantaneously, is able to move objects with her mind and can't feel pain and other discomforts."

Though this isn't a done deal, Johansson is definitely someone we'd love to see work with Besson. She's proved she's got the stuff of an action hero thanks to "Iron Man 2" and "The Avengers," and he showed us all how great his heroines can be in "The Fifth Element," so they definitely would work well together. Plus Besson is great with action tales in general, and we'd love to see him work the same magic for Johansson that he did for Liam Neeson in "Taken."

Besson both wrote the script and will direct "Lucy." If Johansson takes the gig, she will film "Lucy" after she's done with "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." No word yet on when the movie will hit theaters, but it will be distributed by Universal Pictures.

Do you think Johansson and Besson are a good fit? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

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Apr 26th 2013, 18:03

Lower Manhattan has been invaded by moviegoers as they parade to their next screening at The Tribeca Film Festival! As a big movie freak, I am beyond thrilled for one documentary in particular -- "Bridegroom."

Many of you may remember that video that went viral last year revealing the powerful love story between Shane Bitney Crone and Tom Bridegroom, which took a devastating turn after Tom tragically fell off of a roof while photographing a friend.

+ Watch Shane's video gone viral "It Could Happen To You"

Back in June of 2012, a Kickstarter page was launched by Shane in order to turn their moving story into a movie. Within a matter of a few weeks, nearly $400,000 was raised to make this story turn into a movie. Now complete, the film highlights their dynamic relationship and the tribulations they went through as a gay couple. From family problems to legality issues, the topics that arise in this film are imperative in understanding the struggles of LGBT people and their partners.

Tuesday night was the big premiere at the Tribeca Film Fest, and was opened by the one and only Bill Clinton! At the premiere the former president stated, "America needs to see the consequences of a world in which gay people who love each other are accepted, and one in which they are not accepted, both in the same movie." Stars from Monique Coleman to Robert De Niro were also in attendance.

"There were so many special moments that took place tonight at the premiere of Bridegroom," Shane revealed on the film's Facebook page, "I will forever be grateful to all of you for your love and support of me, my story, and this film. I am also incredibly thankful to President Bill Clinton for introducing Bridegroom tonight at the Tribeca Film Festival, and for using his voice to fight for marriage equality."

The creation of "Bridegroom" is yet another example of the power of social media. The film itself, however, hopefully proves to be even more powerful and turns the movement into progress in homes -- and legislatures -- across the country. Watch the films trailer, and take action for LGBT rights below.

+ Watch "Bridegroom" trailer

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Apr 26th 2013, 17:00

For the third time in four years, Olivia Wilde, with her partners David Darg and Bryn Mooser, has brought a short-form documentary to the Tribeca Film Festival, but this year, their project has a special significance to the city of New York. "The Rider and the Storm" tells the story of Timmy Brennan, an avid surfer who lost everything in Hurricane Sandy, who turned the disaster into an opportunity to help is his community.

MTV News' Josh Horowitz sat down with Wilde, Darg, and Mooser to talk about the project and what it means to bring Brennan's story to a larger audience.

Read more after the jump!

"There are so many thousands of different ways that you can tell the story of this hurricane and so many different people that you could focus on, but this particular portrait tells the story in an optimistic way," Wilde said. "It's about someone who can't wait to rebuild, who's back out in the water that drowned his own house. It's just a very unusual and colorful and, at times, funny movie, and I think that's why people respond so well to it. I think that's very difficult to do. It's why these guys are so talented."

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Apr 26th 2013, 16:00

Yesterday, MTV News exclusively debuted the alternate ending to "Silver Linings Playbook," the movie that earned Jennifer Lawrence her Academy Awards, for which we will be eternally grateful. If you're just catching it now, you are in for a real treat.

The alternate ending is essentially an extended cut of the theatrical version's original conclusion, so don't expect any crazy twist or anything. (The whole movie didn't take place in someone's head, but we'd watch that.) Pat and Tiffany still win the dance contest and find love, before heading back to the Solitano's for another Eagles game.

It's an interesting look at the ending that could have been, but more importantly, we get new Tiffany moments from Jennifer Lawrence, who is still in top form in the alternate cut.

"Silver Linings Playbook" hits Blu-ray and DVD on April 30.

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Apr 26th 2013, 16:09

Mark Wahlberg may have been revealed as the ultimate catfish in a skit at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, but IRL he uses the Internet to help people. Right now, the "Pain & Gain" actor is helping service men and women who are suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).

Mark Tweeted:

Over 625,000 #Vets have wounds you can't see. Watch this video & RT to help #MakeItVisible. ow.ly/it5pX #PTS #TBI

— Mark Wahlberg (@mark_wahlberg) April 25, 2013

His vid talks about how some wounds of war -- like missing limbs -- are visible, while others are not. Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress are serious issues, but they might not be as easy to spot and diagnose. However, more than 625,000 servicemembers (that means about one out of seven) who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are grappling with TBI and PTS.

In order to help this, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund created the National Intrepid Center of Excellence, and it's their current goal to build nine satellite centers to continue this mission. Of course this is going to cost some significant money, but if you can pitch in a few dollars our collective impact will add up. Pitching in is super easy: just text "Troops" to 27722 to make a $10 donation (standard messaging rates apply). You can also visit the Make It Visible site to learn more and make a donation of something other than $10.

Mark might have pretended to be Rebel Wilson, but what he's talking about here is def no joke. Whether a wound is visible or not, it's still a wound, and it needs to be taken just as seriously and given the proper care and treatment.

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Apr 26th 2013, 15:00

FROM MTV NEWS

If you caught this week's episode of "RapFix Live," you saw what may be the start of a beautiful working relationship. Big K.R.I.T. sat down with Sway to talk about some recent tweets the artist had sent out to director Spike Lee.

K.R.I.T. desperately wants Lee to direct the video for his song "Praying Man," which features vocals from blues legend B.B. King, and pleaded his case live on RapFix. "Spike: Where you at, man?" K.R.I.T. said. "Spike, I know you're going to the games and I know you're focused on the playoffs and the Knicks. Please do this video."

Well, the campaign may have paid off. Yesterday, Lee tweeted out instructions for K.R.I.T. to call him.

Callin' Big Krit,Callin' Big Krit,This Is Spike Lee.Tomorrow Please Call Da 40 Acres And A Mule Office In Brooklyn,NY.Ask For Jason Lampkin

— Spike Lee (@SpikeLee) April 25, 2013

We'll have to see if anything comes out the tweets. Until then, Lee's next joint, "Oldboy" starring Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Olsen, opens on October 11.

Apr 26th 2013, 14:28

Before making three films in positioned squarely in the stoner comedy genre, director David Gordon Green specialized in small, idiosyncratic movies like "George Washington" and "All the Real Girls."

His latest film, "Prince Avalanche," which stars Emile Hirsch and Paul Rudd, is Green's attempt to strip away the excess of his last three theatrical efforts and get back to the basics of what he likes to do.

The first trailer for "Prince Avalanche" gives you a sense of the humor at work in the Sundance hit and makes us incredibly excited for the film's release on August 9.

Watch the first trailer for "Prince Avalanche" after the jump!

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Apr 25th 2013, 22:00

"A Delicate Truth," the new book from "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" author John le Carré, hit shelves today in the UK and got one hell of a film-quality book trailer to celebrate the occasion. Also, Deadline reported today "Departed" scribe William Monahan has already been hired to adapt it into a screenplay. You can check out the trailer after the jump. "A Delicate Truth" hits U.S. bookstores on May 7.

Also, see Tom Cruise as a tall man in today's Dailies!

» The trailer for John le Carré's new book "A Delicate Truth." [Amazon]

» Pictures of Tom Cruise being tall. [College Humor]

» MTV will produce a pilot for a "Scream" television series. [Indiewire]

» New poster for "Pacific Rim" [ComingSoon]

» Trailer for "The East" [iTunes]

» "Pain & Gain" with puppets, obviously! [Super Punch]

Welcome to the Dailies, where the MTV Movies team runs down all the film and television news, odds and ends that are fit to print! From awesome fan art to obscure casting news, this is your place to feast on all the movie leftovers you didn't know you were hungry for.

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Apr 25th 2013, 21:44

The 2013 Billboard Latin Music Awards are goin' down tonight in none other than Miami, Florida, and stars like Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, and Enrique Iglesias are sure to set the red carpet en fuego! Shaki and J.Lo are two of the four ladies nominated for Female Song Artist of the Year, and it's pretty obvious why. Both are phenomenal performers, loving mothers, and devoted philanthropists who never, ever seem to age.

+ Shakira Goes Barefoot

From lending her voice to Pitbull's "Get It Started," to coaching on "The Voice," it's been a busy year for Shakira. Although work, family, and keeping her tresses so perfectly blonde must be exhausting, the Colombian songstress always finds time to give back. Her Barefoot Foundation provides meals, education, and psychological support to thousands of students in Columbia, Haiti, and South Africa. The foundation recognizes that education starts at home, and that children learn best when they are nurtured and well-fed.

+ J.Lo Shares Telemedicine with the World

This month J.Lo's up for a Billboard Music Award, but last month, she was the recipient of  GlobalMed's Humanitarian Award for her work with the Lopez Family Foundation. Her foundation uses telemedicine to bring healthcare to women and children around the world. So WTF is telemedicine?! Well, basically, just like some people use technology to send scandalous pics and videos to your significant other, doctors around the world can use it to diagnose and treat patients in developing nations. Pretty cool, huh?

So which Latin diva are you rooting for tonight? Barefoot Shakira or Telemedical Jen? (2013 Barbie Doll names.) Take action below to support your fave nominee's fave cause.

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Apr 25th 2013, 20:28

If you're familiar with the work of Michael Shannon at all, you know him as an actor who can go very, very dark when he needs to. The same cannot be said for Chris Evans, who's best known for donning the red, white, and blue for Captain America.

But if you have seen "The Iceman," the new true-life story of the country's most notorious hit man, you know a much different version of Evans.

In this exclusive clip from the upcoming movie, Shannon and Evans discuss different ways of killing targets and disposing of bodies. Evans, who plays the partner of Shannon's Richard Kuklinski, suggests using a powder that will be mistaken as a heart ache. "I don't have any friends, so it makes it easy," he says in the clip.

"The Iceman" opens in limited release on May 3.

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Apr 25th 2013, 20:44

In order to raise awareness about gun violence in our country, MTV recently partnered with rapper Snoop Lion and Jewelry For A Cause to create limited edition MTV x Caliber bracelets. The bracelets, which feature the unique serial number of an illegal fire arm, will help fund buyback amnesty programs in Newark, New Jersey. MTV is committed to raising awareness about gun violence, which is why MTV Act is launching Increase The Peace, a new series celebrating young people who are finding creative ways to reduce gun violence and increase the peace in their communities.

If you've been following "World of Jenks" this season, you probably recognize the first young person profiled for our series. D-Real Carter watched as gun violence tore apart his hometown of Oakland, California. Once a involved in gangs himself, Carter vowed to leave that life behind after his brother's death.

We spoke to D-Real to find out how he's using peaceful methods to fight gun violence and what he hopes for the city of Oakland. Check out the interview below!

ACT: How do you think we should act to reduce gun violence?

D-REAL: I feel like when you fight back it in a violent way, you're attacking the problem. If you treat it like a math equation and put pencil and paper to it, you'll solve it with all of the details you need -- instead of using a calculator which attacks the problem but doesn't figure out how to break it down and actually solve it. It just attacks it to get rid of it.

ACT: You turned to dancing to have a creative outlet. Why do you think that's important for kids who are thinking about joining a gang or getting involved with guns?

D-REAL: Once you create an outlet for yourself or you give yourself the chance to see that you have outlets, it's more you can do. You're limited when you get in a gang; you take orders, you gotta prove yourself over and over again. And in a way, you're never enough; with or without you, they'll move forward. But when you give yourself the option to be a great dancer or great rapper or great basketball player or a great lawyer or a great doctor, you create something that you can actually physically call your own. When you have a surgeon, a bunch of them went to Princeton or Harvard or Yale but at the same time you'll have one that's a world-renowned surgeon for how he works. It's his work ethic that made him great; it's not because some of them came from poverty of some of them came from a privileged background. You need to have an outlet at your disposal. When you're in a gang, it's not at your disposal. It's not at your will; it's someone else's will; it's someone else's way; it's someone else's time frame. If you have an outlet in other things that's tangible for you to reach for, it's kind of a better outcome as opposed to a gang.

ACT: What advice would you give to someone who is looking to leave gang life behind? 

D-REAL: You know in different areas and different places and different gangs, there are different sanctions and rules and things like that. But when you stand up for what you believe in, the people around you that you're closest to, they'll nine times out of ten give you the chance to go after what you really believe in. No one wants a weak link, so if you don't believe in the gang anymore, why would we hold on to you? Or, if you don't believe in that lifestyle, why would we hold on to you? Nine times out of ten, you can't be a better asset to the gang when you're trying to stop gun violence. But at the same time, you can be a better asset to yourself and anybody else around you. It's up to you as a man or a woman to be clear about what you want to do. Once you accept yourself, everyone else can accept that.

ACT: Oakland is your home. What is your hope for the city? 

D-REAL: I really hope that everyone in the community can see that the way that everyone is fighting gun violence now hasn't solved the problem and hasn't gotten us anything but more casualties and more homicides and more deaths and more retaliation. I would hope that they would see that there's another way to go about it as opposed to just attacking it at the head and thinking you're going to stop the problem. Nine times out of ten monsters just grow another head and keep coming. You have to go piece by piece to understand what you need to break it down. I hope that Oakland will open their eyes to see the bigger problem; the problem is that regardless of how you look at it, authority's retaliation or community retaliation is being done by both sides. We all need to come together and figure out a way to solve the problem instead of attacking it. Hopefully I see my city opening their eyes and doing everything I'm doing. Hopefully I get to be the voice for the young people so they can see that everybody here isn't just nonchalant about the fact that we have a violent city.

ACT: How can other young people address gun violence in their areas? 

D-REAL: They can really just not help fight gun violence by not being a part of it. And by helping people around them find outlets, and when they find an outlet, don't keep it to themselves. Be more open to the fact of sharing it. I'm going into schools to talk to younger kids to get their minds open to that, to actually not be exposed to that, to not wanting to be around it as opposed to everyone wanting to see it, to be around it, to hear about it. I want to make it where kids don't really think of it as the norm; it's odd for someone to be around you talking about "I'm going to do this" or "I'm going to do that" as opposed to kids thinking it's normal to hear someone say they're going to shoot someone. Where I come from it's very normal to hear that and deal with that. You should be ashamed of yourself when you've got little kids will to die as opposed to graduating middle school.

ACT: As we all know, you're one of the three stars of "World of Jenks" this season. What's been the response been for you and your message now that you're on a national TV show?

D-REAL: Honestly, it's been great. People around the world are opening their eyes to the fact that we do need peace. I'll be received an award from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Association in October. I will officially be starting a non-profit, so it's opened a lot of eyes for people and it's helped me understand that I do have a gift to talk and to show people and demonstrate these acts of kindness and acts of peace and they can follow. And it gave people a lot of hope to understand that you don't have to be one way your whole life. You can change; it takes time. It's not something you can do overnight. A lot of people have accepted the fact that there is somebody that wants peace; there is somebody who wants peace for the young kids in Oakland and the young kids around the world. It's opened so many doors and enlightened so many people. The response that I've been getting is so great and the response that I believe that everyone on the show is getting is so great. People in Oakland, I mean, I've known so many people to care about people with autism and cancer. People walk up to me like "I have a nephew with autism," and I actually have a little cousin with autism, so to see that story is kind of bringing me to tears because I have a little cousin who is ten years old and she has autism. She is very smart and goes to school and everything. This has opened the eyes of so many people. It's making a tremendous difference in the world.

Increase The Peace is an ongoing series dedicated to celebrating young people who are coming up with creative ways to fight gun violence. For more on the series and the MTVxCaliber efforts, visit Increase The Peace.

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