By Karu F. Daniels
Emmy and Grammy award winning funnyman Chris Rock is back on the big screen in the Jerry Bruckheimer action flick, “Bad Company,” which also stars Anthony Hopkins, Kerry Washington and Garcelle Beauvais-Nylon. Directed by Joel Schumacher (“A Time To Kill,” “Batman & Robin”) and produced by blockbuster kingpin Jerry Bruckheimer (“Gone In 60 Seconds,” “Bad Boys”), the plot of the far-fetched flick revolves around the recruitment of a hip-hopping Jersey-bred street hustler into the CIA, after his unknown (to him) twin brother — a beloved, Harvard-educated agent– is killed during an operation. A rather rotund Hopkins plays Gaylord Oakes, the experienced agent who helms the mission to train and prepare the street-wise twin to finish his brother’s work, which will ultimately decide the fate of the world.
During a recent interview with Rock at New York’s Essex House Hotel in New York, the 36-year-old Brooklyn bred comic shared his thoughts on his sexy co-star, filming in the largest city in the Czech Republic, his other projects and his anticipated role as a father.
Here’s what Chris Rock had to share on…
Getting cozy with sexy co-star: “You know, I’m in show business c’mon. Garcelle. It was acting. If it was real, I’d be with her in a minute, but you know, we’re both married. It’s something that I have to go through a lot being the entertainer I am. Those situations arise, gotta do the right thing. Sometimes it’s easy to do the right thing, sometimes it’s hard, but you gotta do the right thing.”
First Meeting Anthony Hopkins: “I think it was a photo shoot. It was like some early press thing and you know it was, ‘How are you?,’ and ‘How are you?’ We bonded; Being in Prague helped a lot because we both were experiencing Prague. So we automatically had something in common. It was like, ‘Where are you eating,’ and ‘No, where are you eating?’ ‘Is there a bookstore, oh boy, there are no American bookstores,’ and ‘Oh, I found one,’ or ‘I found a record store.’ If we had done the movie in LA we wouldn’t have bonded as much. We were going through something together.”
Prague: “I liked it. Prague is like New Orleans without the food. Swingin’ sin city type, voodoo. It’s got an aura. They had no idea who I was. But there were no Blacks in Prague. It wasn’t like being in America in a town with no Blacks. They hadn’t seen Blacks. They were like the Blacks they see was like Shaq or something. It was like a curiosity thing. Like ‘Ah, you’re one of those Black people that I’ve heard so much about.’ It was kinda like no one knew me but no one followed me around in a store or anything; hit their car door or anything. It was just oh, a Black guy.”
New York State Of Mind: “I’ve been so lucky to work in New York. I did ‘New Jack City’ in New York, I did ‘Down to Earth’ in New York, I did ‘Boomerang’ in New York, I did this movie in NY, I did ’The Chris Rock Show’ in New York, I did ’Saturday Night Live’ in New York. I have been very fortunate to have worked in New York so much.”
Making a great spy: “Naw, cause I’d be Black and too many people paying attention to you anyway. You gotta really blend in. I guess I’d be a good spy in Africa somewhere. But, being a Black spy is a hard one to pull off.”
Working and Living: “I’ve been fortunate. I’m fortunate that I started 18 years ago and they didn’t give you a starring movie when I started. Nowadays there’s no building up process. It seems like a plan, but a lot of it is just luck and the era I’m from. I mean the last five, six years I tried to pick good projects and try to work with good people. And I try not to spend that much money so that I can turn down really bad movies. That’s the key more than anything. To be able to afford my house and stuff like that.”
’Bad Company’ as the biggest role in his career: “I guess it would be. I remember when I did ‘Nurse Betty’ that was big too. To me, the movie didn’t turn out to be this blockbuster. But working with Morgan Freeman was incredible too. This is ‘Nurse Betty’ with the Jerry Bruckheimer machine behind it. So, it’s a whole nother marketing machine behind it.”
“I’m sure Anthony wanted to work with Jerry more than me. He wanted to be apart of that more than he wanted to work with me. Jerry makes big movies. I’m alright but Jerry Bruckheimer delivers every time.”
New movie “Head of State:” “Well, it’s not the first Black President. I think [Chris] Tucker’s Working and Living: “I’ve been fortunate. I’m fortunate that I started 18 years ago and they didn’t give you a starring movie when I started. Nowadays there’s no building up process. It seems like a plan, but a lot of it is just luck and the era I’m from. I mean the last five, six years I tried to pick good projects and try to work with good people. And I try not to spend that much money so that I can turn down really bad movies. That’s the key more than anything. To be able to afford my house and stuff like that.”
’Bad Company’ as the biggest role in his career: “I guess it would be. I remember when I did ‘Nurse Betty’ that was big too. To me, the movie didn’t turn out to be this blockbuster. But working with Morgan Freeman was incredible too. This is ‘Nurse Betty’ with the Jerry Bruckheimer machine behind it. So, it’s a whole nother marketing machine behind it.”
“I’m sure Anthony wanted to work with Jerry more than me. He wanted to be apart of that more than he wanted to work with me. Jerry makes big movies. I’m alright but Jerry Bruckheimer delivers every time.”
doing the first Black president. I’m doing an election movie more than anything. The basic premise is that I play an Alderman from the D.C. Maryland area. We haven’t zeroed it in yet and the Democratic nominee has a heart attack three months before Election Day and the Republican candidate no one wants to run against him because he’s an incumbent and he’s a war hero and he’s Sharon Stone’s cousin. So they decided to get a patsy to lose this election and they’ve chosen me as this Alderman. So I get to run and comedy ensues.”
Presidential role research: “No [I haven’t been to the White House]. I’ve been around Bill Clinton a few times lately. Been in D.C. brushing up on it. It’s more the Mel Brooks’s take on politics. I’m not really trying to make “The Contender” here. I’m not trying to. If all you guys hated the movie and the people in the theatre loved it, I’d be so happy. Making a political movie is hard. ‘Cause people really don’t care about politics in a mass way like we think they do.”
Fatherhood: “It feels great. I’m really looking forward to it and I don’t really look forward too much… My wife is due July 7. Yeah, that’s my other baby. A kid [is] the ultimate responsibility. Bring it on. Millions of people do it. Can’t be that hard. I asked my mother, there’s no such thing as quality time, its just time. You’ve got to be there all the time. And that’s what I hope to do. Be there all the time.”
Future Plans: “I’m producing a movie for HBO. It’s gonna [start filming] in August. The Marion Berry biopic with Jamie Foxx starring as Marion Berry. That’s drama, that’s straight drama. ‘Madagascar’ is a couple of years away, that’s DreamWorks. I’ll have 2 movies going in the DC Baltimore area.”
The R. Kelly sex-tapes: “It looks like him. If it ain’t him I guess it’s his priest. I don’t know man. Seems pretty bad. Let the law deal with it. Doesn’t look good, I’ll tell you that.”
More TV Underway: “As soon as I’m done with “Head of State.” Everybody’s saying you’re doing movies now and no more TV. Directing a movie, especially with the crew I’m working with, it’s all the same people from the ‘Chris Rock Show.’ And, by directing it I’m really getting back to what I was doing on TV. That was having my hand in every part of it. So, hopefully this movie is like what you say you’re missing.”
Reprinted with permission:
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Printed in Volume 1 Issue 10
