SHOCKING PIC: 50 Cent Drops 54 Pounds!

Inspired by a pal who died of cancer, 50 Cent penned and stars in Things Fall Apart, a flick about a football player stricken with the disease.

“I lost 54 pounds for it,” the 6-foot rapper, 34 --- who dropped from 214 pounds to an astonishing 160 with a liquid diet and three-hour-a-day treadmill walks for nine weeks -- tells the new Us Weekly (on newsstands now). "I was starving."

I am proud of 50 Cent for going above and beyond for an acting role. Many Hollywood types put down Rapper turned actors for not studying the craft. He is showing he will do what it takes to get the character.