By Karu F. Daniels (New York, NY)
’RU & A’ CHRIS ROCK: Emmy and Grammy award winning funnyman
Chris Rock is back on the big screen this weekend 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, 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 have
sex 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 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.”
* * *
URBAN FASHION PASSION: Publicity flacks are taking their careers to the next level, and reinventing the field of media relations with a host of wide-reaching projects and events. One notable maven is
Tonya Payton, owner of the Park Avenue boutique publicity firm S&S Associates, who will helm an ambitious fete paying homage to urban fashion next Thursday (June 13) at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.
A true labor of love for Payton, the mission of
“The First Annual Urban Fashion Awards Show” is to bring exposure to the urban fashion community who has gone to long unrecognized of its full economic potential. “The Annual Urban Fashion Awards Show recognizes the worth and value of urban fashion and establishes urban fashion as a viable entity unto itself,” says Payton.
Rap impresario
Russell Simmons will receive the prestigious Humanitarian Award while urban fashion czar
Tommy Hilfiger has been selected to receive the esteemed Urban Fashion Lifetime Achievement Award. Urban fashion innovator
Karl Kani will be honored with the Pioneer Award.
Ballots for the awards were sent to over sixty fashion editors, fashion directors and urban fashion industry leaders who responded with a wide selection of outstanding nominees in
28 categories. Designers, brands and design houses such as Enyce,
Kenneth Cole, Maurice Malone, Phat Farm, Roc-A-Wear, Sean John, Baby Phat, FUBU, Girbaud, Lady Enyce, Mecca, Meoshe, Bushi, J-Lo,
Outkast, Varcity, Vokal will compete in categories such as Menswear, Womenswear, and Outerwear, amongst others.
Though the event is still coming together in its eleventh hour, Payton tells
The Ru Report that she is both “excited and scared” about the first big hurrah.
Celebrity notables expected to attend the event include
Mike Tyson, Snoop Dogg, Naughty By Nature, Wendy Williams, Foxy Brown, Sharissa, Tichina Arnold, Carl Thomas, Egypt, Ginuwine, Kenny Anderson, Tyrese, Ice-T, Toukie Smith, Malik Yoba, Queen Pen, and
Lyris.
And of course she’ll garner publicity. Payton will have an electronic media cavalcade rolling out for the event, which will include BET,
“Access Hollywood,” “Good Day New York,” and
“E! Entertainment News,” amongst others.
* * *
TUBE TALK: True “Black Star Power” descended on Los Angeles’ Universal Amphitheater last Friday evening for
“The 2002 Essence Awards.” Known the world over as the classiest and most respected awards of its ilk, the fifteenth anniversary of the salute to excellence –inspired and produced by the same folks who deliver
“ESSENCE” magazine—brought out the likes of
Melissa Etheridge, Samuel L. Jackson, The Rock, Stevie Wonder, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Lela Rochon-Fuqua, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Glenn Lewis,112, Heather Headley, Yolanda Adams, Jaheim, Ashanti, Kenny Lattimore, Jermaine Dupri, Bow Wow, Fabolous, Chante Moore, Roberta Flack, Kelly Price, Kirk Franklin & Choir, and
Johnny Gill, amongst many others. This year’s honorees include
India.Arie, Halle Berry, Kenny Gamble, Janet Jackson, Alicia Keys, Jimmy Jam & Terrie Lewis, best-selling author
Terrie McMillan and broadcast mogul
Cathy Hughes.
Patti LaBelle, Tom Joyner, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Mary J. Blige, Quincy Jones and
Antonio “LA” Reid makes appearances on the show via videotaped salutations. Hosted by
Steve Harvey, the show will be broadcast tonight (June 6) on FOX at 8:00 P.M. ET/PT.
“The 2002 Essence Awards” is the award show to watch. And it doesn’t repeat like that mainstream awards show on that other mainstream basic cable channel. So you may want to catch this historic program while you can…Something not so basic that will be on cable TV is Independent Film Channel (IFC) premiere of the groundbreaking new film,
“Baadasssss Cinema,” directed by award winning filmmaker
Isaac Julien. The hour-long documentary combines archival material with footage from black action films such as
“Coffy,” “Blacula,” “Superfly,” “Black Caesar,” “Foxy Brown,” “Shaft,” “Hell Up In Harlem,” and
“Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” along with many others, to argue that blaxploitation films were in fact complex reactions to social situations and inequalities.
“Baadasssss Cinema” will debut on Wednesday, August 14 at 10:00 PM ET/PT. According to a rep, the film will also feature interviews with
Pam Grier, Isaac Hayes, Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry, Isaac Hayes, Quentin Tarantino, rap icon
Tupac Shakur’s Black Panther mother
Afeni Shakur, fashion designer
Ron Finley, movie critics
Armond White, Elvis Mitchell and feminist pop cultural critic
bell hooks. To tie in with the airing of
“Baadasssss Cinema,” IFC will have a full-fledged on-air festival with airings of Grier’s 1974 star-turn
“Foxy Brown” (8/14),
Gordon Parks’s fan favorite
“Superfly” (8/15), and
Richard Roundtree’s bad mutha role in
“Shaft’s Big Score” (8/16). All the movies will show back-to-back on Saturday, August 17 beginning at 8:00PM/ET. And the blaxploitation roll-out will continue with specialized internet content on the channel’s website (
www.ifctv.com), beginning on July 15. Site features will include the a celebrity look-alike quiz, postcard components and a sweepstakes, along with interviews and programming descriptions…For those of us who are already experiencing “TV Withdrawal” with many of our favorite shows off the air --for good or either for summer hiatus, we an indulge in repeat episodes of HBO’s hit drama series,
“Six Feet Under.” The premium cable network will offer an encore run of the first two seasons, presenting an episode of the acclaimed show every Sunday night at the same time for the next 26 weeks. Although
“Six Feet Under” wrapped its second season last Sunday, you can still have a chance to catch up on this white-hot series, beginning next Sunday (June 9) at 8:00 p.m. That should hold us over until the show returns with its third season next year.
* * *
CELEBRITY ROLL-CALL: The folks over at America Online, America’s premier internet service provider, continues to outdo themselves with all of their inventive and groundbreaking features.
Their month-long "Celebrity You've Got Mail" promotion campaign continued this week by revealing the names and faces behind seven more of the 32 mystery celebrity voices sharing their version of "Welcome," "You've Got Mail," and "Goodbye." According to a rep, millions of consumers to date have logged on to check out the promotion, with the majority of players guessing the voices correctly.
A motley crew of celebrity notables such as
Rosie O’Donnell, Barry White, Mr. MovieFone, R. Kelly, Mandy Moore, Troy Aikman, Regis & Kelly, Britney Spears, Wesley Snipes, Anthony Hopkins, Janet Jackson, David Letterman, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and
Method Man have recorded their versions of the popular salutations. The fun part is that –thanks to today’s technology—AOL users can customize their setting to accommodate their specific tastes. I –a bonafide AOL-whore— have the voices of
Larry King, Sarah Jessica Parker and
Jay-Z on my settings. So it’s fun. And now with addition of new voices such as
Brandy, Tweet, Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, Conan O’Brien, Charlie Sheen and many more to come, I don’t know what to do. I’m fit to be tied.
So, I guess membership, indeed, does have its privileges.
* * *
IN THE ‘OUT’ HOUSE: What’s going on with sultry TV actress
Maia Campbell? Sources at Los Angeles urban radio station, The Beat, tells
The Ru Report that the former
“In The House” star recently shook up the scene at the Black-owned station, causing security to escort her out off the premises.
The eldest daughter of best-selling novelist
BeBe Moore Campbell and former Atlantic Records recording artist have been exhibiting erratic pubic behavior, lately.
At a recent party she co-hosted with New York City shock-jock
Wendy Williams, actress
Lisa Raye and heart-throb
Morris Chestnut, the brazen bombshell confronted the statuesque on-air personality about rumors of the identity of her child’s father, after initially requesting to take a photo with the local “celebrity wag.”
“She appeared to be on some type of drugs,” says
Kevin Hunter, husband/manager of Williams. “We didn’t know she was koo-koo prior to the event, but she got a little wild during the event…I think she was trying to prove something.” Hunter tells us that things could’ve gotten out of hand at the party, which was held at Mars 2112 just above New York’s Times Square, but didn’t.
Campbell finally made it onto the airwaves of The Beat one recent Friday afternoon and announced that her “baby’s father is a crack head.” She went on to speak to the unidentified Mexican man over the airwaves: “You think I don't know but I know you smoke crack rock."
“She called and said she found an unreleased
Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes video in back of a record store "in the garbage,” another Beat staffer tells
The Ru Report. “She asked me if I thought she could use it to get a record deal.”
These antics are increasingly becoming common knowledge when it comes to Campbell, who was reportedly nixed as the cover subject of the most ecent issue of hot new men’s magazine,
“KING,” due to “politics,” notes a magazine insider.
Last seen on the big screen in 1999’s
“Trippin’,” the 25-year-old Takoma Park, Maryland native has picked up work in straight-to-video movies with obscure titles such as
“The Luau” and
“Seventeen Again.” She also appeared as the love interest of R&B crooner
Tyrese in his steamy music video for the track, “Sweet Lady,” and appears in the clip for
Fat Joe and
Ashanti’s Top 10 hit “What’s Luv?,” alongside
“VIBE” magazine model
Will LeMay.
According to record industry insiders, she is reportedly shopping a demo of her “cerebral soul” music and has been known to ask a few executives to front her some cash --$30 in one instance-- to send it out to prospective A&R scouts. She was reportedly signed to a six-album deal with Atlantic, but was dropped before the Neo-Soul boom got underway and after her A&R rep was relieved of his duties.
We’ve reached out to Campbell’s last known publicist several times to no avail. Reps at her former agency, the Burbank-based Gold/Lietky, informed us that she was no longer on the roster and that they had no forwarding information.
* * *
OLDIES BUT GOODIES: She’s no oldie, but she sure is a ‘goodie.’ One of my all time favorite singers,
Teena Marie, is coming to town. On Saturday (June 29) the White soul singing diva is set to take center stage for one of her tour-de-force performances at B.B. King’s Blues Club. Always eagerly-anticipated, fans can expect to hear her sing her classic hits “Square Biz,” “Portuguese Love,” “I Need Your Loving” and the knock-down, drag-out ballad “De Ja Vu.” Tickets are going fast for the 8:00 show and a later show will be most likely be added. The renewed interest in Marie will be capped off with the release of Motown/UME’s definitive anthology,
“It Must Be Magic,” which is due to retail on October 29. Other R&B veteran acts scheduled to perform at the Times Square watering hole include
The Delfonics (6/7),
WAR (6/23),
Peaches & Herb (7/12) and
Etta James (7/13-7/14)…Another R&B vet,
Jeffrey Osbourne, will be getting the star treatment with the June 25 release of his very own
“Best Of" disc under the
"20th Century Masters/The Millennium Collection.” The 12-track collection will include Osbourne hits “On The Wings Of Love,” “Stay With Me Tonight” and “You Should Be Mine (The Woo-Woo Song),” along with others. The album spans 1982-1988 when, according to Radio & Records, Osborne was the premiere artist in the genre (second only to
Michael Jackson in Top 5 records).
* * *
I Wonder: Where’s Nola Darling? It’s funny how all of you
“JET” magazine readers chimed in on
Jayne Kennedy-Overton’s recent sighting but none of you can furnish the real deal on actress
Tracy Camila Johns.
Hmmmmm.
* * *
Notable Quotable of the Week: "What Danny Glover says about cabs in New York not picking up Black people is definitely true. I am often mistaken for being Black because I have a dark complexion. Cabs pick up everyone else waiting who is white, even if I come first. I finally get disgusted and give up." – New-school Magic Man
David Blaine of his big apple taxi woes.
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Got Something To Say? Email Karu F. Daniels Directly At TheRuReport@aol.com.
