A SMALL dimple in his cheek is the only visible sign that nine bullets were pumped into Curtis Jackson's body. That mark is the exit wound of a 9mm bullet that hit him in the face.

Amazingly, he survived. Not only did he live to tell the tale but he became a top hip-hop artist, going into the record books as the first artist to have four songs in the Billboard Hot 100 since The Beatles.

Jackson is better known as 50 Cent and, like other rappers before him, has made the switch from music to movies. As his story reads like a film script, it's no surprise that Get Rich Or Die Tryin' parallels his own life.

His screen character Marcus is an orphaned street kid whose mother is murdered, who hustles drugs to pay the rent, goes to prison, is gunned down and recovers to become a top rapper. Much the same as 50 Cent.

He describes the movie as a collage of his life, 75 per cent factual with some things altered for dramatic purposes.

The director is Irish-born Jim Sheridan, Oscar-nominated director of My Left Foot and In The Name Of The Father. An odd combination, although Sheridan turns out to be a rap fan and can see parallels between his Dublin upbringing and 50 Cent's in Queens, New York.

The pair developed a strong working relationship. "He made me put my butt in front of the world," says 50 Cent of Sheridan, referring to his naked prison shower scene on screen.

"The whole film project was a learning experience for me. Our relationship is kind of different. I won't accept instructions the same way I accept them from Jim Sheridan."

Jackson credits the birth of his son with turning round his life. He began to pursue rap seriously, only to be stopped in his tracks when he was shot in April 2000 in front of his grandmother's house.

Dropped by his record label, he released a CD that caught the attention of Eminem, who along with Dr Dre, signed 50 Cent to a $1m deal. His 2003 release Get Rich Or Die Tryin' sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and won him numerous awards.

"When my son came into my life, my priorities changed. I would probably have continued down the wrong road I was going along already otherwise," he says. "I had to accept the repercussions for my actions. If I was physically incarcerated, if I wasn't around to take care of him, no-one else would."

"I look at my life, everything people consider an accomplishment, being able to feel what it feels like being successful and that's three years of my life. For 27 years I can make reference to not having that and living in an environment that was really aggressive. The content of my music is more a reflection of that."

His music has crossed over to reach a broad audience, with the movie exposing him to an even wider one. "I make music with the intention of everyone enjoying it. Originally I made music just for people in my environment because I didn't have radio as an option," he says.

"The hardest thing I went through was not being shot, it was being dropped by my record label. After making the decision to write music for a living, I liquidated kind of everything I had. Cars, jewellery, all the stuff was done.

"There was nothing, because a baby is expensive. I had to focus on the music because I'd sacrificed everything else that I had. If I lost my focus, it would have meant I did that for nothing.."

The shooting changed his voice. "There's more air in my mouth. I lost teeth on the side when the bullet went into my tongue," he says.

He won't be repeating the acting experience just yet in order to stay focused on his music. "I work like an average working class person works. I do so much more, because the average artist doesn't work. When you're touring, you're on the stage for one hour, so you're obligated to be at work for one hour. We have another seven hours."

50 Cent hopes his film's message is an inspiring one for young black men around the world. "Even if you grow up without parents, you shouldn't accept or feel that you can't be successful. I still don't feel I have accomplished all I will accomplish," he says.

The image of 50 Cent with a gun in his hand on the poster for Get Rich, provoked criticism. He's done his homework to respond to those complaints, pointing out that 18 films using guns for marketing purposes were released ahead of his this year. "If you're familiar with James Bond, you're familiar with it. If you're familiar with The Matrix, you see millions of guns. These are hit films. The week my film comes out, they say there's violence. Jarhead came out the same week and that's about war.

"You look at that and say sometimes there's perks to you not being a gangsta."

l Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (15) is showing in cinemas now.