‘Day Shift’: Snoop Dogg’s Father Inspired Him to Join Jamie Foxx’s Vampire Film
The Jamie Foxx-led vampire flick Day Shift is set to arrive on Netflix next month. In addition to Foxx, the Day Shift cast includes Dave Franco, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Meagan Good, and Snoop Dogg. The movie’s writer-director J.J. Perry recently explained how Snoop Dogg‘s father inspired him to accept a role in the film.
‘Day Shift’: Story details, release date, and its stuntman director
Day Shift follows a blue collar dad who makes a living by ridding Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley of its vampire problem, per IMDb. The action-comedy flick is set to premiere Aug. 12 on Netflix.
The movie is the brainchild — and directorial debut — of J.J. Perry. Perry had an unconventional journey to Hollywood. His dreams of working in film started during his days in the U.S. Army. He served in the military for decades before setting his sights on something completely different: stunt work.
“I didn’t ever anticipate any of this for myself when I got outta the Army,” the 54-year-old director told Vanity Fair. “I thought for sure I’d get out and I’d f*** all this up and be back in the Army. So here we are, 32 years later, and directing a film has just been a big, huge treat and honor. What a great ride.”
With Day Shift, Perry set out to make a monster slayer movie that was unlike anything audiences had seen. He added: “I couldn’t reinvent vampires because that’s been going on forever. But what I did do was I took some contortionists and weaponized their work.”
How J.J. Perry convinced Snoop Dogg to join ‘Day Shift’
In Day Shift, Snoop Dogg plays Bud’s (Jamie Foxx) friend Big John Elliott, who is trying to lure Army vet Bud back to the vampire slayers union. When pitching the project to Snoop, Perry unveiled an unexpected connection between himself and the Young, Wild And Free rapper: their infantrymen fathers.
“My whole pitch to him was: I’ll make you an action star, brother,” Perry explained. “… Snoop said, ‘Well, my father was in Vietnam.’ My dad was in the Army too, so we had this common thread.”
With this in mind, Perry encouraged Snoop to channel his father. He continued: “I said, basically, ‘I want you to play your father,’ because his father was Southern. I said I want to take away all of that L.A. swagger and give you more of a country swagger.”
J.J. Perry made Jamie Foxx’s character as much like him as he could
While Snoop Dogg may have drawn inspiration from his Vietnam vet father for the movie, Jamie Foxx’s character in Day Shift is actually modeled after Perry’s own life.
“[Bud’s] an ex-Army guy. I was an infantryman. He came to L.A. and he’s a guy that gets in over his head, a lot like I do, but he has to be able to get himself out of trouble,” Perry told Vanity Fair. “I have a nine-year-old daughter. He has a daughter. He’s trying hard to keep his family together.”
One of the movie’s bigger plot points surrounds the real-life issue of gentrification, which has especially impacted Los Angeles. With a rising cost of living, Foxx’s character has to go to desperate means to support his family — something Perry said is a sad reality for many today.
“Earning enough is such a huge part of living in L.A. because it’s expensive to live here,” he said. “… And there’s another secret world of vampires that is hiding right under our noses that nobody knows about.”
