| The Beginning |
As youngest of six children, the Atlanta-born Christopher Tucker was encouraged by his high school teachers to move his humor out of the classroom."`It's great,' they said, `but you need to do it on a stage!'" he says, recalling how he did just that and generated a big response while hosting a school talent show. "Everyone said, `Man, you was funny, you was funny, man.'"
Chris packed up and headed west to Los Angeles, after playing some local clubs, where he began doing stand-up comedy, before eventually moving into movies.
Anyone who has followed his career from early on, knows that Chris Tucker has come a long way from Def Comedy Jam and the weed-smoking, ever-cussing Smokey ("Friday" character).
With films such as "Friday", "Dead Presidents", "Money Talks" and the $300 million hit "Rush Hour," under his belt, Chris has become one of Hollywood's most sought after comedic ctors.
| The Middle |
Standing 6 feet tall with a slim (but muscular) build, Chris sports faint traces of a goatee on his face. He remains an unabashed fan of Pryor and Murphy, whom he regards as major inspirations, and he also mentions the influence of Al Pacino's work.
He says he's determined not to be a "fly-by-night comedian" and has worked hard to prove he can act, that his talents aren't limited to the type of characterizations he brought to the Allen and Albert Hughes drama "Dead Presidents," to the Ice Cube comedy "Friday" and to "House Party III."
He admits that he is being more mindful of the influence that his charater portrayals has on kids. Not only is he no longer cursing (get the f*ck outta here!) :), he's being very selective about the roles he choses to play.
Fans were pretty upset when they learned that Chris wasn't in the newly released "Friday" sequel.
"I pick my own projects and I try to control my own destiny by writing a lot of my stuff," says Tucker. He is writing, producing and co-directing his new film.
| The Present |
In his much anticipated follow-up due in early 2000, Chris will play the President of the United States in "Guess Who's The President". The comedy will cater to the PG-esque audience that got to know him opposite Jackie Chan in Rush Hour. Yes folks, it's really true: the profanity we came to expect early in his career is gone."I think I'm funnier without cussing," Chris says. "I know what the people want, but I'm not going to do the same old thing." No matter how big the pot gets, Tucker wants to stay in control of his career and portray positive images.
Chris says he has toned down his act because of his new fans,"it makes me want to get better when I know I've got a fan base of little kids," says Tucker who is mindful of doing the right roles at the right time in order to secure his place in Tinsel Town.
At one point there were plans in the works for Chris Tucker to work on new film entitled, "Double-O-Soul", an action-comedy take-off of the James Bond films.
Chris's character is supposed to be a low-level secret agent who is suddenly promoted after a rash of other agents are killed. It was said that Mariah Carey was to be cast as Chris Tucker's love interest.
As of yet, there is no word on the film's progress or if there will even be a film starring both Tucker and Carey... but if I find out, I'll let'cha know.
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