Oscars: Barkhad Abdi Dishes With Ryan Seacrest How Jay-Z Helped His English (Video)

The “Capital Phillips” star told the E! host how “Seinfeld” and Jay-Z helped him develop his English

E! host Ryan Seacrest spoke with “Captain Phillips” star Barkhad Abdi about how the Somalian-born actor mastered the English-language from watching television and listening to music. Seacrest began the interview by asking how he got his big break.

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“How did you get cast for the gig?” Seacrest asked the actor.

“They came to my city, Minneapolis, about 800 people and I went there,” he said.

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“And I understand that Jay-Z’s music and watching ‘Seinfeld’ helped you master the English language,” Seacrest said. “Tell me about that, what did you learn?”

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“That was like during my high school,” Abdi revealed. “I started to listen to a lot of hip-hop and its just when you listen to a lot of music, you know, you kind of understand.”

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Abdi said “Reasonable Doubt” was the Hova album that helped him learn.

Watch Abdi speak with Seacrest below via E!:

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