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Rapper returns to successful career as comic actor
By Angela Dawson
Entertainment News Wire
Published on Friday, Jan 18, 2008
HOLLYWOOD: Rapper turned actor Ice Cube arrives for an interview dressed in black. His retro-looking Afro and blue-tinted sunglasses prompted someone to joke that Cube's looking ''a little militant.'' Without missing a beat, Cube chuckles, raises a clenched fist and said, ''power to the people.''
Power to the Cube is more like it. The entertainer, 38, is here to promote First Sunday, the latest offering from his production company, Cube Vision. It opened in theaters last weekend and placed second at the box office. Cube's company has enjoyed success with a string of modestly budgeted urban comedies over the past few years. He wrote, produced and starred in the cult hit Friday and its sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next. He also directed The Players Club. And he starred in and was executive producer of the back-to-back box office hits Barbershop and Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In the family comedy genre, he's played an exasperated suburban father in the hits Are We There Yet? and its sequel Are We Done Yet?
With First Sunday, Cube again hopes to catch lightning in a bottle. He plays Durell, a newly unemployed divorced dad who suddenly finds himself in a financial bind. Desperate, he and his troublemaking best friend LeeJohn (30 Rock's Tracy Morgan), who also needs to score some quick cash, decide to rob the local church. Their plan to break into the house of worship undetected after hours goes awry when congregants start showing up. These two bumbling criminals then have to contend with the moral consequences of their actions as their simple break-in devolves into a complex hostage situation.
The comedy marks the directorial debut of playwright David E. Talbert, who also wrote and co-produced the movie. The great-grandson of a Pentecostal preacher, Talbert took his inspiration from the congregation with which he grew up. Cube plays the straight man to Morgan's outrageous shtick. Stand-up comic Katt Williams plays a flamboyant choir director. Loretta Devine, Michael Beach, Keith David, Regina Hall, Malinda Williams and Chi McBride round out the cast.
Cube found Talbert's script hilarious with an uplifting message about forgiveness and redemption.
''It's right in our wheelhouse,'' he said. ''David made it a Friday and a Barbershop mixed into one.''
Making First Sunday was an enjoyable experience for Cube. The key was to get out of the way of the comedians and let them do what they do best. His job, he said, was to try to stay straight-faced on camera. It wasn't easy in the presence of Morgan and Williams, who are prone to make people laugh.
Cube also was impressed with their professionalism.
''Tracy not only came up with his character's back story, he also came in with LeeJohn's attitude,'' he said. ''I still feel like I've known him since the first grade. He's got the charm thing going.''
Though he isn't a churchgoer in real life, Cube had some initial concerns about his character brandishing a gun in the chapel, fearing it might turn off some moviegoers.
But Cube believes that the film's moral messages are clear and, above all, it is a comedy.
''People shouldn't take it too seriously,'' he said.
He also said that churches should do more to reach out to folks like Durell and LeeJohn.
Morgan said he enjoyed getting an opportunity to work with Ice Cube, whom he has admired as a rapper and an actor. The former Saturday Night Live cast member had previously worked on Cube's Are We There Yet? But he only provided the voice of a bobble head doll.
''He's the king of the franchises, like McDonald's, you know,'' Morgan said. ''I've always been a fan of (Cube's former rap group) N.W.A. and all that stuff, so it was quite an honor.''
Cube was impressed with Morgan's preparation and performance.
''What I love about Tracy's performance and just his character is that you get to see the tears of a clown,'' he said.
Ice Cube has an eye for emerging talent. He cast virtual unknowns Chris Tucker in Friday and Mike Epps in Next Friday. Both have gone on to lucrative film careers.
Born O'Shea Jackson, he adopted the moniker Ice Cube when he became a rapper. He came to prominence as part of the controversial but popular rap group N.W.A. in the 1980s and ventured into the movie business in the early 1990s. In 1991, he made his acting debut in John Singleton's Boyz N the Hood. He reunited with the filmmaker in 1995's Higher Learning.
Other film credits include Three Kings, Trespass, Anaconda and All About the Benjamins.
Cube established his production company because he saw an opening in Hollywood for African American comedies. The success of the Friday franchise convinced him he was on the right track.
With several more projects in development, he hopes his next film will be a drama called Comeback, in which he will play a surrogate father to a disadvantaged teen girl. Cube is eager to return to drama after a string of comedies. But don't expect this teddy bear-like leading man to sign up for a romantic comedy.
''I don't like them,'' he said. ''And I hate watching them.''
Though movies occupy most of his time these days, Cube remains one of the most recognized hip-hop artists in the business. His music career includes the double-platinum success of Vols. 1 and 2 of his War and Peace. As a solo artist, Cube recorded such hit albums as Lethal Injection, Bootlegs & B-Sides and Amerikkka's Most Wanted. A new album, Raw Footage, is slated for release this summer.
HOLLYWOOD: Rapper turned actor Ice Cube arrives for an interview dressed in black. His retro-looking Afro and blue-tinted sunglasses prompted someone to joke that Cube's looking ''a little militant.'' Without missing a beat, Cube chuckles, raises a clenched fist and said, ''power to the people.''
Get the full article here.
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