NEW YORK -- Fat Joe didn't have to look too far for inspiration while filming his role in "Scary Movie 3." All he had to do was look in the mirror.

"[I'm] just playing myself," Fat Joe said Wednesday. "They took a scene from '8 Mile.' Homeboy Simon Rex is supposed to be like Eminem, but he really ain't Eminem. He's a white boy from the farm. They told me to battle him, so I took it to the Bronx right quick. I battle him onstage. He's the worst. He was the worst for real.

"It's funny 'cause I thought they was setting me up," he continued. "On the drive over [to the set], I was on the tour bus writing my rhyme to the beat, and I was like, 'Watch them get this super-lyrical white boy to tear me down.' But he actually was horrible."

While on set, Joe said he got to rub shoulders with some of his co-stars and take in the work of other MCs turned actors.

"I loved Ja Rule as a Secret Service man holding down Leslie Nielsen," Joe said with a laugh. "He's the president, and I think some aliens are trying to get him -- or at least he thinks so. Ja Rule is protecting him. That's the hottest thing I've seen. Anthony Anderson, I'm a big fan of his. I got to work with him. Afterwards I took them all out to dinner. Me, Simon Rex, we just ate. We did what I like to do."

Besides making sure his belly is full, Joe also likes to make moves in the boardroom and music in the studio. He just secured a solo deal for his protégé Tony Sunshine, and he's rounding up his troops for another full-length Terror Squad album.

"What I'm most excited about is Tony Sunshine," Joe said. "Finally we got him signed to Jive Records. ... R. Kelly wrote him two songs. Cool & Dre produced most of the album. We're working on the Terror Squad album, and I'mma start working on the new Fat Joe album shortly."

Joe, Tony, Armageddon, Prospect and Remy Martin are all onboard for the Terror Squad album, Joe's camp insisted, despite swirling rumors and a recent mugging that left Remy scarred.

"They tried to rob her," Joe said, getting more solemn. "She got cut by her lip. It's not a huge cut, but it's still unfortunate. It ain't big, but it's sad. Somebody was waiting. It's crazy 'cause she feels safe, that's her neighborhood or whatever, but Remy, she be walking everywhere with jewelry out. She thinks it can't happen to her."

As for Joe's next solo album, "I've got some ideas," he said, smiling.

"I gotta come out swinging. Always bet that money on Joe Crack. He's a sure winner in Vegas. I gotta go to Chicago and work with the R. [Kelly]. It's gonna be serious. A serious joint. ... I've got a lot of great ideas. I'm just renegotiating them numbers with Atlantic."