NEW YORK -- Irish film-maker Jim Sheridan says dodging bullets is dodging bullets, whether it's in Queens, N.Y., where his new 50 Cent biopic, Get Rich Or Die Tryin' is set, or in Belfast, Ireland.

"Everybody keeps saying, "You know, you made a black movie,'" Sheridan told reporters before the film opened last Friday, debuting at No. 4 in North America. "And I keep saying, 'No, I made a movie. I made a white movie. I made the same movie if I were making it in Dublin or London or anywhere.' I didn't approach it like it's special. I'm used to Belfast. It's the same."

Still, some people might have a hard time believing that a 56-year-old Irish filmmaker could have anything in common with a 30-year-old former crack dealer turned rap superstar from Queens.

Sheridan says it wasn't that much of a stretch since he understood the phenomenom of rap in general, having moved to New York City in the '80s with his family. He recalled that time in his last film, 2002's In America.

"I've loved rap since the '80s," he says. "I remember all these Jamaican artists in New York. It was all Caribbean-influenced initially, or reggae. As I wasn't a very good singer and a I had a band, I used to like narrative music, like Oscar Brown Jr. and Cab Calloway, so when the rap music came in, I really liked it."

Sheridan, whose credits include The Boxer, In The Name Of The Father and My Left Foot, even likens rap to indie films.

"I realized that rap was like the movies that weren't being shown in Hollywood. It was all the stuff that wasn't being expressed in mainstream movies.

"I even like the anger in the rap. Obviously I found the misogyny a little bit hard to take at times. But I kind of understood where it came from."

He says rap is an amazing phenomenon. "I think it's because the kids think the rappers are telling the truth and they don't believe the media."

As for 50 Cent making his film debut, receiving mixed reviews, Sheridan took all of the responsibility, right off the top. "I just met him, had a video camera, talked to him, we read the script, and I said to him at the end, 'If you don't perform in this movie, it'll be my fault.' So I tried to take the blame and performance away very early. 'Cause I wouldn't make the commitment unless I think I could get him there. The hardest thing to play is yourself. If you're not playing somebody slightly different from yourself, it's very hard."

For his next film, Sheridan says he's tempted to do a film about growing up in Dublin, but already has a movie about a president being assassinated in America.

"It's difficult because it's political and politics is always cool, it's not hot. I'd really like to do a film about America."

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