Trailer
Plot summary
Rashad lives in Atlanta with his younger brother Ant and their uncle George, who took the boys in after a car crash killed their parents; the three work together in George's custodial company. In his final semester of high school, Rashad skates with his crew at the local rink, where he notices a girl named New-New. His best friend Esquire attends a prep school across town and needs a letter of recommendation from someone prominent to help his Ivy League application. Rashad draws well but expects to stay in the family business. Ant, no longer under his brother's eye, starts selling for Marcus, a drug dealer.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about ATL (2006)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Chris Robinson had directed Harris' first music video four years before ATL and was very impressed by his charisma and presence: "But on this film he came to the table, worked so hard and never tried to be T.I."
- Lauren London said her character New-New was loosely based on R&B group TLC's "T-Boz as a kid", and that she talked to T-Boz about the part: "she explained to me how it was when she was young".
- The character of Esquire was inspired by a friend of producer Austin's who worked at a country club but would tell his friends he worked at a hot dog joint: "And you'd think his family had money, but he lived in the projects."
- Three months before production the actors gathered at Atlanta's Skatetown to train for the skating sequences; some had never been on roller skates before, and skate captain Vaughn Newton worked with them rigorously, usually practicing five hours a day.
- The film marked Big Boi's film debut, and director Robinson said of his performance: "he wasn't the normal kind of a bad guy. He put so much charisma and flavor behind it. We loved it."
- Jamie Foxx was chosen to feature on the soundtrack song "Georgia" by Ludacris and Field Mob, which samples Ray Charles' "Georgia on My Mind", after he had played Charles in the 2004 biopic Ray.
- The ceiling above the rink was removed for lighting and the floor refinished in darker colors for better light reflection; working with the art department, Buono designed a wagon wheel effect that moved with the motion of the skating.
