Big screen bros Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum aren’t the only returning players in the freshly-minted sequel to the unexpectedly awesome 21 Jump Street. Also back on the screen is rapper turned actor Ice Cube as their self-described angry black captain, Dickson. We caught up with the former O’Shea Jackson.
Ice Cube, star of films ranging from Boyz N The Hood to Are We There Yet?, enjoyed the experience of making 21 Jump Street so much that he had no hesitations in signing on for the follow up, the rather obviously titled 22 Jump Street. “It was fun. It was so cool the first time we did it, so I knew the second time It’d be a little more comfortable for everybody and just a little more familiar with everyone’s work ethic and work mentality, so I knew it was gonna be fun. It was great because they’re professionals – there’s no egos getting in the way of the work. It’s all business but it’s all fun, too. “
He was also keen to reteam with co-stars Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, who he describes as “… laid back, real cool dudes. We get a chance to improv a lot. That’s the fun of it, once you lay the script down, you get to play with it a little bit, have fun, clown and really try to, you know, add some flavour to the movie.”
22 Jump Street is not Cube’s first sequel. His resume includes not only the Friday series and the Are We…? films, but also an ill-fated attempt to continue the XXX series without original star Vin Diesel, so he’s aware that the best laid plans of producers and performers can sometimes go astray. However, he was confident that 22 Jump Street would not dip in quality.
“No, once I read the script I knew it was gonna be a great movie, I knew it was gonna be a movie that could stand on its own and not rely on the first one so much, so I was all in. This is my fourth movie with (producer) Neal Moritz, so he kinda knows what’s gonna get me going and what’s not. It’s really cool to be in this next movie with him and hopefully we do what we supposed to do – and maybe they’ll be calling me for 23 Jump Street.”
As for that mooted – and perhaps inevitable – sequel – where is there left to go after this latest instalment’s college-set shenanigans? Grad school?
“Nah, they too dumb for that!” Cube laughs. “Maybe they can go to nursing school, they can go to preschool, they can go to veterinarian academy – anything but grad school or medical school – they can’t do that. Law school? No. They can’t pull that off.”
TRAVIS JOHNSON
