BRETT RATNER / DIRECTOR

Wunderkind? Prodigy? What else do you call director Brett Ratner, 26, the veteran of more than 50 rap videos who just made his feature debut with “Money Talks,” and is signed for the Chris Tucker-Jackie Chan caper “Rush Hour” and a remake of John Cassavetes’ “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie”? Not bad for a kid who fell in love with film watching “Scarface” and “Miami Vice” being shot in his native Miami.

SIZZLE: “Any script by Paul Thomas Anderson. Paul just directed ‘Boogie Nights’ for New Line, which is the best movie I’ve seen all year and probably in five years. After this movie he’ll be as big as Tarantino.”

RISING STAR: “I’m prejudiced, but Chris Tucker is it. By far. Like Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor, there’s a guy like this for every generation. He can pull off real acting like in ‘Dead Presidents,’ but he’s also so loved and likable and smart.”

STYLE: “Phat Pharm is by far the most up-and-coming clothes--cross-cultural, for hip-hop kids and old Jewish men. My grandfather in Miami Beach wears Phat Pharm, just like kids in Brooklyn.”

HANGOUT: “The Friars’ Club--very Old School, and Old School is in. You go for a shvitz [steam bath] and hang out with all the old comedians for days. Hanging out in the shvitz with Don Rickles is the coolest thing I can do in my days off.”

LUCKY BREAK: “The day my first video aired on MTV four years ago was the day they first put directors’ names on MTV. If they ever start putting directors’ names on commercials, you’ll see a lot more commercial directors getting features work.”

HIS MTV: “Video budgets are getting high. I just directed the biggest one ever for rap, $1 million for the Wu Tang Clan--all visual effects, which is not my world, really. That will be the average cost soon and we’ll see a huge trend of visual effects, which takes the soul out of them.”

AGEISM: “I don’t think age is a big deal. There were young filmmakers before me, like the Hughes brothers. Your work says a lot. If your work is great, you get respect. If not, I don’t care if you’re 20 or 60, no one’s going to take your calls.”

ROLE MODEL: “[Def Jam mogul] Russell Simmons is my mentor. He inspired me to do this and not be afraid to fail. I feel the same way--if I can’t be a director, I’ll do something else. My girlfriend will still want to marry me and my mom will still love me.”