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CNN Live Saturday

Chris Tucker Talks About His Upcoming Movie 'Rush Hour 2'

Aired August 04, 2001 - 15:23   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: At the box office, a real rush for moviegoers this weekend. "Rush Hour 2" opens this weekend. Comedian Chris Tucker and martial arts expert Jackie Chan are back for more, and I got chance to speak with Chris Tucker yesterday about the sequel.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLEY (on camera): Tell us about the movie, what's better about the movie than the real rush hour?

CHRIS TUCKER, ACTOR: Oh, the real rush is a long waiting, but this movie is a lot of action, a lot of comedy, a lot of everything. We had a lot of fun, me and Jackie Chan, doing it.

KELLEY: I have seen some of the promos. Tell folks about the movie a little bit. "Rush Hour 2," better than "Rush Hour," the first movie?

TUCKER: Yes, it's a lot better -- it's on another level, it's on a whole another level, and it's like sighting -- just a lot of fun. We did everything in this movie that we wanted to do in the first one.

KELLEY: What kind of fun do you get into?

TUCKER: A lot of fight scenes with Jackie, a lot of stunts, a lot of -- and we go to Hong Kong. We filmed a lot of the movie in Hong Kong. And it goes to Los Angeles, then Las Vegas, so it's a lot of places we filmed in. So, it's a lot of fun.

KELLEY: Who are the bad guys?

TUCKER: Bad guys -- we got Zhang Ziyi from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," you might have seen her in it, she plays a villain in that. She played the villain in our movie. And Roselyn Sanchez, John Lone -- we have got a lot of good actors -- Don Cheadle -- a lot of good people, a lot of good cameos in the movie.

KELLEY: Yeah, well, I've seen some of the promos, it looks like a lot of action, a lot of fun, a lot of comedy. You do your own stunts like Jackie Chan?

TUCKER: Yeah, I do my own stunts. I do my own -- I do a lot of Jackie Chan's stunts too. A lot of times he was afraid, and I have to do it.

KELLEY: And you step up.

TUCKER: Yeah, I have to wear a lot of prosthetics, so a couple of his stunts you're going to think it's him, but you're going to see a black hand, that's me doing his stunts for him.

KELLEY: So, there's a give-away. Did you have fun with him?

TUCKER: I love working with Jackie. I mean, he's like -- the things he did, nobody in the world can do it, and it's just exciting working with him.

KELLEY: Yeah. When people go to see "Rush Hour 2," what are they going to take away? What's the big point that you want them to take away?

TUCKER: Just the chemistry between me and Jackie. We have so much fun together, and the set-up, you know, two guys from two different worlds working together, clashing, the two coaches clashing. This is fun and it's funny, and that's what I think people are going to take away from it, just the way we interact with each other.

KELLEY: I'm telling you, the promos look fun. They're just full of energy, and they just seem a lot of fun.

TUCKER: Oh, yeah. We do it -- you know, we have a lot of outtakes, as the first movie had a lot of good outtakes, and that's at the end of the movie when they show behind-the-scenes stuff. They have a lot of good stuff in this movie too, we don't know the camera is still rolling and we're doing -- it just shows how cool and close me and Jackie are, so that's where all the fun comes from, our friendship.

KELLEY: I was thinking, "Rush Hour, "Rush Hour 2" -- "Rush Hour 3" coming?

TUCKER: Oh, yeah, "Rush Hour 3" is coming.

(CROSSTALK)

TUCKER: Oh, yeah, I know people is going to love it. We have already starred working on a script, because this one everybody has seen it and love it, so we are going to go ahead and do another one.

KELLEY: Can you give us a little hunt where you might head with "Rush Hour 3"?

TUCKER: New York City.

KELLEY: Really?

TUCKER: Or Atlanta.

KELLEY: Yeah.

TUCKER: To bring it to my hometown would be cool.

KELLEY: Well, this is Chris Tucker's hometown. Tell us about the comedy club that you have.

TUCKER: Well, I don't have it anymore, I closed it down because I've been filming and I've been doing a lot of things, so I'm going to reopen it later on when I have more time for it. But it's so much -- so many other things I'm doing right now.

I've got another project coming up, called "Mr. President." I'm playing the president of the United States of America, that's coming up. I'm excited about that role, because it's so different from anything I've done before, so -- it's a comedy, and it's coming up next. And my concert stand-up movie, because I'm a stand-up comedian, so I'm getting ready to drop that in December.

KELLEY: You know what I thought was fun, when I saw how you got into this. When you were in eighth grade, you kind of got hooked. How did that happen?

TUCKER: You know, just being fascinated with movies, going to the movies, watching people like Richard Prior, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby do that thing. I was always fascinated with it, and I said I could do that, you know, and my personality sort of evolved over the years, and I just became -- you know, I was just a class -- you know, the most humorous in high school and sort of developed into a comedian.

KELLEY: Yeah, you did some talent show, didn't you too?

TUCKER: Yeah.

KELLEY: And then, they gave you this huge, adoring approval.

TUCKER: Oh, yeah. I hosted a talent show because I was -- I got in trouble in class, and the principal recommended me to take my little act onto the stage and perform in a talent show instead of in a class. So, I went -- I did it, because I wasn't afraid of nothing, so I did it and loved it. You know, I did a great set. I was the host, I talked about everything that was going on in school, and I said, this is what I'm going to do the rest of my life.

KELLEY: Yeah, talking about a little act -- you have a little person, he's about 3 now, and I was reading earlier when he was a baby, I was very touched by the way you described when he was born and what a blessing it was. Would you tell us a little bit more about that?

TUCKER: Yeah, it's my son, he's going to be 3 years old, and he's just cool. It's just great to have a son and a kid, just a different type of feeling, a different type of love toward a kid. But he's my little boo-boo, you know, I call him boo-boo.

KELLEY: But when little boo-boo was born, what did you think he would do to your life and what has he, now that he's 3? TUCKER: I thought he would grow up and get a job and take care of me when I get old. You know, just great, you know, just responsibility, you know, it's always somebody -- it's always different with somebody dependent on you, so it's a good responsibility to have.

KELLEY: Chris Tucker, we're glad to get to visit with you. Thank you.

TUCKER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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