September 27, 1999

by Veronica Mixon

The controversial singer, songwriter and performer challenged authority and helped to change the face of music and American culture with his hardedge lyrics that were N.W.A.'s trademark. He quit the band in 1990 over business dispute and quickly leaped into films, making his acting debut in John Singleton's 'Boyz in the Hood.'

His superb performance was followed by solid acting roles in 'The Glass Shield,' 'Higher Learning,' 'The Player's Club' and the pop monster hit, 'Anaconda.' Ice Cube's produced the comic hit, 'Friday' which became a cult classic on video and will be followed by a sequel this Christmas.

Born O'Shea Jackson, the 30-year-old husband and father of three has proved to be one of Hollywood's rising stars as the millennium approaches. In the year 2000, Ice Cube will appear as a comic book super hero in 'Shadow Man' and possibly sell future records on his website: www.icecube.com. Ice Cube spoke candidly about his career and his choices when I spoke to him about his latest film, the action comedy 'THREE KINGS' which also stars George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

THE INTERVIEW

Was it difficult moving from music to movies?
Yeah, you have to find your way. It's a whole different game. The respect that you get in the record world doesn't necessarily spill into the movie world. You've built yourself into a certain status and then you have to start from the bottom and work your way up. It took me a minute to understand but I know everything is not what it seems and you have to look and see what you're dealing with. Fortunately, I write so I'm not really at the mercy of Hollywood and their scripts, and what they say I should do. I was able to invite myself to the party, in a way, and do my thing. Now, I think everyone is turning on to me instead of me playing the Hollywood game.

Do you focus on one project at a time?
It's just the opposite. I juggle a lot of things. What I do is I try to lay out a plan and I follow it. It's not as hard as it seems. Know yourself and what you've capable of. Whatever you're doing is the most important thing.

You, Queen Latifah, and LL Cool J are making it on the big screen and people are shocked at success. Do you have a problem with rapper-turn-actor logo?
I guess they don't understand our tradition of making something out of nothing. That's our tradition. You've got a few people. Look at how Queen Latifah and LL Cool J did their records and how I did mine, and how we've tried to make our careers a steady ride and never fall. They've got to know what they're doing and they've got to be serious about what they're doing. I'd rather give a rapper a shot. I like unknowns. If you look at how I put together movies, I've used a lot of unknowns - a lot of fresh faces because I think, just like rappers, somebody who didn't go to all the acting schools brings a certain ground base reality to a role. I'm a fan of new faces and a fan of rappers getting into movies.

Could you talk about your cult hit, 'Friday' and its sequel?
I'm so proud of the first 'Friday.' I grew up on movies like 'Cooley High,' 'Uptown Saturday Night,' 'Let's Do It Again' and 'Car Wash' - stuff like that. To have one under my belt for my generation - I hope generations after that will enjoy 'Friday' down the line. I enjoy those old movies. I was skeptical about doing a sequel because sometimes you can tarnish what you've done. What I did - it took me a few years. I refuse to write one and refused to talk about it. People loved it so much so my mind started turning so, I thought of a story. We don't have Chris Tucker and that was a problem in the beginning. He says he doesn't smoke weed or use profanity so, he didn't want to be in the movie to portray that. So, that posed a problem because everybody loved Chris Tucker in 'Friday.' I didn't want to tarnish it. But I think what we've done with the new story, it's just right. It feels in some ways better than the first because I'm better - as far as producer, directing and writing. It seems right. I hope people are happy with it because it's going to be a big deal for us.

But, you do plan to director future projects?
Oh, yeah. I'm gonna get my chops as an actor. I'll act in a lot of movies next year and the year after that I'll look for something to direct because once you find something, it takes a year. Right now, I think things are on the up swing and I'm started to get respect for my performances and not just because I'm Ice Cube. Hopefully, better and more movies will come along and I'll be able to show what I can do as an actor, next year.

Could you talk about some of the people you've worked with starting with John Singleton?
John Singleton is the best. He's a guy who loves making movies. And, he loves actors and he loves seeing his work come alive. It's always a good experience. You want a director to have your back as an actor and not just sell you out for the movie. And, John is the kind [of person], he wants you to look good for the sake of the movie, you're a brother and you should good - and that's a good thing. Sometimes, you do movies and people really don't know that much about you. I've done movies where the studios have hooked me up with a director and they really didn't know that much about me - foreign directors - and I thought I was under used and my talents were just stifled in a way. With John, he let's you go and that's always cool.

What was it like working with Charles Burnett?
Charles Burnett taught me a lot. He taught me how to stay calm through the storm. He's a very seasoned director. He's always mellow. That is crucial, you set goals. If you start going crazy and ballistic, your set goes that way. He taught me how to keep my control and understand the process - and welcome the process instead of fighting it all the time.

And, working with Jon Voight who complained about not getting top billing?
He's got to talk to his agent about that, you know what I'm saying. I don't know - in that movie, the snake was the damn star, if you ask me. Everybody cared about the snake. The snake is on the front cover; we're on the back, you know, what I'm saying. Like Anaconda, so what the fuck is John talking about. He's too old for that kind of stuff.

I loved 'Dangerous Ground.' How did you get that film?
This guy name Darrell Roodt had this script and to really get it made, he had to have somebody attached to it that New Line was comfortable with so, I took a look at it and did a couple of things to it - and New Line picked it up. It was a good experience - I mean going to South Africa. Making the movie was all right but going to South Africa and hooking up with the people and comparing our situation to their situation - it was interesting. It's something that I don't know when I would have gotten to South Africa since my career is rolling like it is. So, I always felt good the fact that I went and saw for myself. It was a very good experience.

Working with Elizabeth Hurley?
She's cool. I really don't know too much about her personally. She was always cool on the set. Professional. But, I think she was kind of going through it with Hugh Grant at the time. There was a lot of garbage. She was kind of to herself.

Did you ever thing of going to film school or college before starting in the business?
No, I never considered going to film school even though I took a film class in 9th grade because I thought it was going to be easy and I wanted to sit back and watch movies. [Laughs] It's a trip how little things along the way - I had to have a typing class and I didn't want to do that because 'when any I going to use typing?' Then, years later, I'm writing scripts - and doing films. It's a trip that certain things that happen in the past could touch off things in the future. I never went to the big schools and did all those things. I was never in the drama class - I'm blessed but everything just came together.

You are a natural performer.
Yeah. I didn't need all the other school but just a little taste to wet my whistle and let me know that I could do this if I really wanted to.