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EUR'S INTERVIEW WITH NICK CANNON: The Monster House Interview -- Cannon on His New Cartoon Feature
*Born in San Diego on October 8, 1980, Nick Cannon began performing at eight years of age after his grandfather left him several instruments as a gift. He then founded the Da Bomb Squad, a rap group comprised of him and his best friend, Steve Groves. The duo eventually opened for such superstars as Will Smith, Montell Jordan and LFO.
But Nick decided to put his music career on hold when acting opportunities came pouring in. So, he headed for Hollywood while only in his mid-teens and started doing stand-up at comedy venues like The Improv, The Laugh Factory and the Comedy Store.
Next, he soon landed his first television gig as the audience warm-up emcee for the long-running, Nickelodeon TV-series "All That." Realizing that Cannon's calling was to be in front of the camera, the program's producers awarded him a recurring role which he would eventually spin-off into "The Nick Cannon Show."
Success on the small screen catapulted Nick to fame and fortune via feature films, where he made his breakout bid as a college freshman from Harlem in "Drumline." He's since appeared in "Love Don't Cost a Thing," "Shall We Dance," "Underclassman," and "Roll Bounce." Due to his distinctive voice, he's also been much sought after to play characters in animated adventures from "Garfield" to "The Adventures of Brer Rabbit" to his latest outing, "Monster House," in which the versatile, young actor appears as Office Lister, an overzealous rookie cop.
KAM WILLIAMS: What's the premise of this picture?
NICK CANNON: Well, "Monster House" is pretty much a story about a group of kids who come up on this house that is actually a monster. It's kinda cool because no
one believes them at first, because that doesn't make any sense. How could a
house be a monster?
KW: So, what happens? Let me guess. I bet it does turn out to be a monster.
NC: My character, along with Kevin James' character, are the police officers in the film. And we roll up on the kids like, "What's going on? Why are you guys troubling this house?" From there, we don't believe anything they're talking about and threaten to take them to jail and all that stuff until we actually do suspect the house and then it kind of eats us. [laughs]
KW: What was it like working opposite Kevin James? He and Will Smith certainly generated a lot of screen chemistry in Hitch.
NC: Working with Kevin James was amazing. I'm a huge fan of all of his work. And for him to be just so cool and down-to-earth worked out perfectly, because we're the direct opposites. He's laid back and chill, and I'm like hyper and bouncing all over the place.
KW: How about Sam Lerner, the child starring as Chowder?
NC: I think Sam is the funniest kid I've ever met. His comedic timing is amazing, and he's just over the top. He reminds me of like a little John Candy. He played Chowder to a "T" and he even has some ad-libs in there that are hilarious. You know what I mean?
KW: Yep, thanks.
