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April 2007
ARE WE DONE YET?: EXCLUSIVE Interview with Ice Cube

ARE WE DONE YET?: An EXCLUSIVE Interview with Ice Cube
By Niambi Sims

April 2, 2007

Ice Cube has undoubtedly had his share of breakthrough film roles, first in the hit comedy Friday starring alongside then-upcoming comedian Chris Tucker, which spawned two sequels: Next Friday and Friday After Next. That year he also starred in his second collaboration with John Singleton, Higher Learning, as world-weary university student, "Fudge"; a role for which he earned award nominations.

He had a supporting role in 1997's Anaconda, wrote, executive produced, and made his directorial debut in The Players Club in 1998, and in 1999, starred alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the critically acclaimed Three Kings. In 2002, Ice Cube starred in the commercially successful movie Barbershop, as well as its 2004 sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In early 2005, Ice Cube came back to Hollywood and starred with Samuel L. Jackson in the action movie XXX: State of the Union and then alongside Nia Long in the family comedy, Are We There Yet?.

In Are We Done Yet, the sequel to Are We There Yet, Ice Cube plays Nic Persons, a newlywed who decides to embrace the responsibilty of fatherhood by relocating his wife (Nia Long) and family to the suburbs. Nic soon realizes that his perfect dream house comes with a little more than he bargained for and must overcome some hilarious obstacles to keep his family together and his manhood in tact.

Ice cube has successfully made the seemless transistion from Gangsta Rapper to consumate thespian. This multi dimensional powerhouse gives Niambi Sims a glimpse of the many facets that make him Cube and his fear of inevitably becoming “square”


This isone of the rare sequels that may actually be better than the original. Can you talk a little about the process of creating this sequel and how you based it on Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House?

Ice Cube: After the success of the first Are We There Yet, which was basically for kids, I wanted to do a movie that the whole family could see. Mr Blandinsg Builds His Dream House was that movie. It’s an old Carey Grant movie from the forties and we were going to redo it and try to make it a little more contemporary. I just hated the title. It was just too long. Are We There Yet the DVD was doing strong and we needed a sequel and I don’t know who came up with the idea of making this the sequel but we started playing with the idea.


Is this the beginning of a franchise like the Friday franchise?

Ice Cube: Hopefully, it really depends on the success of this movie. Box office receipts are not just it. It also depends on how it’s received. We’ll see how people like it and if they watch it over and over like they did the first one. If they like it then we’ll so another sequel.


Are you a handy guy around the house?

Ice Cube: I’m alright. I’m not going to jump up like Nic and say I can fix that. I’ll look at it, study it see if its easy to take apart. If I look like I’m going to have any trouble with it, I’m going to pick up the phone and call somebody.


Have you ever had any contractor nightmares in your own house?

Ice Cube: We had a bad contractor. This dude just cut corners on everything. He didn’t do anything to spec, nothing to code so we had to go through and try to redo some of the stuff that he did. I’m still looking for that cat!


What is your reaction to people who can’t let go of the Thug image you had in the past and cannot embrace the things you are doing now?

Ice Cube: When we did those records in the past, they were really to scream about what we saw as injustice in the hood. Everybody that’s born in America wants a peace of this pie. The gangsters out there are no different than anybody in here. They want a car, house, kids, wife. They want all these nice things that they see on TV. In their pursuit if that, they wind up going down the wrong road, getting caught up and ending up in the penitentiary but when they get out, if you ask them what they want most of them want a car, house,wife, kids, the same thing everybody else wants and I’m no different. Right now I have those things and most people would say “Cube, just ride off into the sunset and don’t look back.” That’s not really cool because I still have family and friends that are still struggling in South Central LA and I will continue to speak for them because some of these people can’t speak for themselves and be heard on this kind of level. The past is me. That is who I am and the future is me too.


You’ve played a wide range of characters from the action hero to the family man and still managed to keep it real. What would you say is the secret to your universal appeal?

Ice Cube: For one thing I just be myself. I like to try to play the every man. I’m usually the straight man in the comedies that I do. I try to react the way the everyday regular person in the audience would react not like a super hero. For some reason that’s appealing to people. I guess because people can relate a lot to my characters. I think everybody can relate to me especially guys that have gone from being cool bachelors and tried to be cool husbands and cool fathers at the same time. Somewhere in there, you lose your cool and just become “Pops” the cool part is gone. You don’t know where you left it but its just gone! I think people can relate to that.


Do your kids still think you’re cool?

Ice Cube: Yeah they actually do. They really look up to me and look for my opinion on music and clothes.


How old are they?

Ice Cube: 20, 16, 13 and 6


Do you find that kids who come see your movies know about your rap career as well?

Ice Cube: Alesha Allen, who plays my stepdaughter in the movie knew nothing about my rap career at all until she worked with me. Then she went to the VHI Hip Hop Honors and she was just excited. She was like “I didn’t know you were that good.” It’s a trip but if you keep on living you are going to meet people who don’t know who the hell you are!


Do you have any desire as an actor to do a romantic comedy?

Ice Cube: I don’t know about that.


Why?

Ice Cube: I don’t like those kinds of movies as a fan. I’m not a romantic comedy kind of guy. You’d have to drug me and drag me to one of those kinds of movies.


There were a lot of hilarious scenes with animals. Did you have any incidents with them?

Ice Cube: None. That’s the fun part if it. People tell you not to work with kids and animals and I managed to work with them both and I came out alive


What are you doing musically?

Ice Cube: I’m producing a record for my right hand man WC. We have an album coming out called “Guilty By Affiliation” and I’m working on my solo album called “Raw Footage”. It’s a little more politically charged than the last one


Are there any current artist that you consider politically or socially conscious?

Ice Cube: I think Kanye and Ludacris definitely use rap to say things and I’m still here.I always put a little game in my rap.


What’s next for you film wise?

Ice Cube: I’m doing a movie called First Sunday. It’s about two guys who get fed up with how the neighborhood church is treating their grandmother and decide to rob the neighborhood church.


Who’s your co star?

Ice Cube: I am not sure yet. I would love to do it with Mike Epps.


ARE WE DONE YET? Opens on April 6, 2007





 

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