In a recent interview with Grantland, "2 Fast 2 Furious" director John Singleton discussed how Ludacris' role in the "Fast and Furious" franchise came to be. 

Singleton revealed that Ja Rule, who appeared in the first "Fast and Furious" film, was asked to come onboard the franchise as a starring role. 

However, Ja Rule allegedly felt that he was "too big" for the film and turned down the opportunity to appear in the franchise's future films. 

"Ja got too big for himself," Singleton revealed. "He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. He got 15 grand to be in the first movie."

At the time when he turned down the franchise, Ja Rule's success and fame was at its peak. He chose to ride on the height of his musical success rather than return Singleton's calls to be in the next "Fast and Furious" films, Singleton claims.

However, MTV notes that Ja Rule had a slightly different explanation for why he chose to depart from the franchise. 

In 2002, Ja Rule told MTV that the role he played in "Fast and Furious" was not what he envisioned for himself as an actor. 

"Me and Vin [Diesel] talked after he turned it down," Ja explained to MTV. "He hollered at me 'cause they still wanted me to do the film and they bumped up my role as a starring role and everything. And you know, we talked about it. I just felt it wasn't the best move for me as far as what I want to do in Hollywood right now."

So when Ja Rule refused to come on-board, he gave Ludacris a call to appear in the film.

"That's how Ludacris got in '2 Fast 2 Furious' [as Tej Parker] and the rest is history," Singleton revealed. 

So far, Ludacris has not responded publicly to Singleton's comments. 

Singleton claims that Ja Rule has since apologized for turning down the "2 Fast 2 Furious" role and refusing to return his calls.