Exclusive: Ice Cube Talks 22 Jump StreetPosted by Wilson Morales
June 11, 2014
Coming out this week is the action comedy ’22 Jump Street,’ starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, and Ice Cube.
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the the sequel to ’21 Jump Street,’ also stars Wyatt Russell, Amber Stevens, Jillian Bell, Peter Stomare, Craig Roberts, The Lucas Brothers, and Caroline Aaron.
After making their way through high school (twice), big changes are in store for officers Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) when they go deep undercover at a local college. But when Jenko meets a kindred spirit on the football team, and Schmidt infiltrates the bohemian art major scene, they begin to question their partnership. Now they don’t have to just crack the case – they have to figure out if they can have a mature relationship. If these two overgrown adolescents can grow from freshmen into real men, college might be the best thing that ever happened to them.
For Ice Cube, who plays Captain Dickson, reprising a character is nothing new to him. ’22 Jump’ represents his 5th franchise he’s been a part of after ‘Friday,’ ‘Barberbershop,’ ‘Are We There Yet?,’ ‘and ‘Ride Along.’ Although it’s a supporting role in a big film, Cube is riding high this year with the success of ‘Ride Along,’ which will start shooting the sequel. He will also start production on the N.W.A film that will feature his son O’Shea Jackson Jr. playing him when he was young.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Ice Cube talks about his character, working on this film, and his upcoming projects.
What’s it like coming back to a franchise? Is this your 4th or 5th franchise?
Ice Cube: It’s always cool. I stopped counting so I’m not sure. It’s fun. It’s when you know the first one worked and the challenge is to create a whole different meal with the same ingredients. That’s the challenge. To make a whole new movie that stands on its own. It’s fun to try to do that. I think the mistakes that some people make with sequels is to rely too much on the first movie where the jokes are a continuation from that movie. You don’t want that. You want a whole new movie that feels the same.
What more did you want from Captain Dickson that we didn’t see in the last film?
IC: I didn’t know what they were going to do with him when I first the script. He is so cliche. He’s pretty much a guy who is over the top from what you are used to seeing in police captains on screen. So whatever they had him doing and anything outside the office, I was with it because he lived in that office.
Since the first film was an adaptatation from the TV series, is this film derived from any episode or is it something new?
IC: I don’t think either film has to touch the TV series. You actually don’t have to touch the TV series to enjoy these movies. You really don’t have to know anything about the first film to enjoy the second one. We took the premise and we took the title and we just made it brand new and fresh and they don’t resemble the series whatsoever.
How was working with Channing and Jonah again?
IC: It’s always great to work with people that you like and with people that respect what you do. There’s so much respect going on, it’s pretty much a lovefest. We’re having so much in getting the work done and enjoying each other’s company. Jonah’s always asking me a million questions about hip-hop and the early days of N.W.A. There’s always stuff to talk about and do.
What did you pick up from working with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller?
IC: I love how they shot this second movie. They were way more comfortable than the first time. They really kept the camera going and let us ab-lib and let us go for it without doing a lot of breaking and stopping. It was a cool way to film. I learned a new way on how to do my comedy. It was cool working with those dudes and they’re extremely smart and humble and they just know what works.
The film is produced by Neal H. Moritz of Original Films. You have worked with him in the past. Can you talk about working with him again?
IC: Neil is great. This is our fourth movie together. We did ‘Torque’ and ‘Triple X’ and the first ‘Jump Street,’ so it’s a great relationship. I think he understands what I add to any picture. He understands that I have a nice niche audience that’s really into my work and that’s going to follow and watch what I do. He’s being using me to add a different flavor and extra flavor to his movies. Having me in ’21 Jump Street’ made it heavy enough on all fronts. I think he understands what I bring to the table.
Your character has some surprises in the film. Were you aware of them when you read the script?
IC: Yes. I was aware of the surprises. It was fun and cool and another way to get Captain Dickson and Jonah into it. You want it to be fresh. You don’t want me in there yelling all the time with nothing behind it. This was another way to reboot my ‘pissed-off-ness’ on him after going into the second film and knowing who they are. With the first movie, you can be mad because you don’t know who they are and you don’t think they can do a good job. With the second film, you know who they are but you still have to be pissed and you need have an excuse to hang on to and the twist in the film is certainly a reason.
Speaking of franchises, are you trying to make ‘Barbershop 3’?
IC: Yes. I can definitely make it happen. Barbershop was a movie that showed what the barbershop means to the neighborhood and it also showed that all black people, even if they’re young, don’t think the same. We all have different opinions. Barbershop is a great way to continue throwing topics on the wall and getting all these different views on one topic. It opened up America’s eyes that we all don’t think the same. If you talk about Jesse Jackson, 10 people will have 10 different opinions about him.
When do you go back into production on ‘Ride Along 2’ and the N.W.A film?
IC: We’re starting in July and we’ll be shooting in Miami. Kevin is ready to go and I’m ready to go. The script is funny. The N.W.A film is definitely happening. We start shooting that in August. We have F. Gary Gray as the director and an announcement on the cast will be done very soon.
