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In order to get into Dr. Shirley's head, Ali researched his mannerisms through documentaries, listened to old recordings and \"immersed\" himself in his music.

\"I equipped myself as best I could with the materials that I needed in order to really try to capture his essence and do justice to this moment in time,\" the actor said.

Ali pulled inspiration from a documentary called \"Little Bohemia\" about the artists that lived above Carnegie Hall that \"[Shirley] appears in several times.\"

\"I was able to pull from that and sort of get a sense of his gestures and his rhythm and his speech and posture and how he played the piano. So I had that to lean on a bit,\" he said.

The Oscar-winning actor has dabbled with rap in the past and said he's now \"working on something for a project associated specifically with the film.\"

But in terms of \"pursuing a career and doing it and releasing music on a regular basis, no,\" he said. \"But for my work as an actor, I'm working on something, I have been working on it for two years.\"

\"Green Book\" hits theaters nationwide Wednesday, Nov. 21.

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