More than ever before, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is living up to his nickname of “Action Jackson.”
The two-time NFL MVP made his acting debut on Friday, guest starring in the penultimate episode of the fourth season of “Power Book III, Raising Kanan.” He plays E-Tone, a hitman described as “an intimidating figure not to be messed with.”
Jackson’s debut episode aired on Friday on Starz, and since then, everyone around the Ravens organization has been abuzz. That includes his Ravens teammates, who, according to Jackson, were “hyped” to see him on their screens, and even started calling him by his character’s name.
“They keep calling me E-Tone right now,” Jackson told PEOPLE. “They text me talking about ‘E-Tone’ and I’m like, chill out, man, chillax. I’m cool with it, I like it.”
Additionally, Jackson received a message from the one and only Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who played Kanan Stark in the original “Power” series and was an executive producer.
“After they broadcasted, they posted on social media, he DM’d me, he was like, ‘Let’s go,'” Jackson said. “You know, it’s 50 Cent. I mean, it’s 50 Cent, man, that’s dope. That’s dope as hell.”
“Hell yeah, I was hype as hell. I was hyped, man.”
Two months passed between the announcement of Jackson’s casting and his actual appearance in the series, and he kept very quiet before said announcement. As such, some began to believe that the whole thing was “made up,” but it was very real.
“A lot of people, they keep hitting me up on social media like, ‘You weren’t in episode seven, you weren’t in eight.’ I’m like, I believe they said I was going to be in [episode] nine,” Jackson said.
Football is of course still Jackson’s priority as he and the Ravens continue their championship chase, but with his performance in “Raising Kanan” drawing a good deal of praise, he may have a future on screen when he hangs up his cleats.
