Matthew Reine
One of the more interesting comedic figures in Hollywood to me is Chris Tucker. Not for anything he’s starred in or done onstage, but because he’s been very selective in his film roles and until recently, his appearances in stand-up comedy. He made his impact in the 1990s and pretty much kept a low profile through most of the 2000s choosing to star in very few pictures. What do you think led to him bowing out of the public eye and what caused his return? Well sit back and take a look at the career of funnyman, Chris Tucker.
Chris Tucker grew up in Georgia but moved to Los Angeles after high school to pursue a career in comedy. His first major gig was contributing to Russell Simmons’ stand-up series, Def Comedy Jam in 1992. The show was used as a platform to showcase African American comedians. Tucker’s fast-talking with spot-on impersonations were well received on the program and after a few more notable sets onstage, he landed his first major film role in 1995 starring in the hilarious stoner classic, Friday. Alongside Ice Cube, Tucker portrays Smokey, a happy-go-lucky dope dealer who gets into a ton of trouble trying to raise money to avoid a beat down from his supplier. It was this film that exposed many viewers to Tucker’s trademark high pitched voice and exaggerated facial expressions along with his signature line “… and you know this, maaaaaaaaan!”. The movie became a huge critical and financial success and cemented Tucker as a bonafide star. Despite the acclaim, the actor refused to return for its two sequels, Next Friday and Friday After Next, stating that he feels he’s matured from the character of Smokey.
Tucker’s next notable role was in the 1996 crime drama, Dead Presidents. This was a drastic change from what audiences have come to expect from him. Here, he portrays Skip, a drug-addled Vietnam War veteran who assists his old war buddies in committing various crimes for money. Though his wise-cracking personality is on display here, this was a much darker film than anything the comedian’s done previously. Dead Presidents wasn’t a very well received film, but fans now saw Tucker in a new light and saw that he had range beyond his work in comedy that would take him in a variety of different directions.
Tucker kept up his pace by gaining great exposure in the 1997 Quentin Tarantino film, Jackie Brown. The movie was a tribute to the great blaxploitation films of the 1970s and included Tucker in a role as a messenger for a dangerous arms dealer played by Samuel L. Jackson. While his part was brief, he went out in style being murdered by Jackson, the resident cinema bad ass. Believe it or not, Tucker was actually rumored to star in Tarantino’s 2012 movie, Django Unchained, as the titular character but the part eventually went to Jamie Foxx.
Next, Tucker tackled one of his most famous roles in Luc Besson’s 1997 science fiction flick, The Fifth Element. As Ruby Rhod, a flamboyant talk show host, Tucker was in complete cartoon mode and it made for a ridiculously entertaining character. Rhod’s outrageous hairstyles and funky outfits are what a lot of people remember about the movie despite appearing alongside Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, and Milla Jovovich.
That same year, he starred alongside Charlie Sheen (way before he was WINNING) in Money Talks, a comedy directed by Brett Ratner, who Tucker would team up with again very shortly. Tucker’s comedy is back in full force as he plays a petty thief who join forces with a television personality to keep away from danger. It was really silly and all I remember most about this was when Tucker’s character explains what the slang term “phat” stands for (pretty hot and tempting).
In 1998, Tucker reunited with Ratner and the end result was Rush Hour, a genuinely funny action/comedy that became a mega hit at the box office. Here, Tucker portrays loudmouthed Los Angeles Detective, James Carter, who is admonished by the LAPD after almost botching an undercover sting. Hoping to leap into the good graces of his colleagues again, he’s reluctantly paired up with a Hong Kong cop (played by Jackie Chan) to rescue a Chinese diplomat’s daughter and take down a mob boss. The film was a grand success becoming the seventh highest grossing film of that year. Tucker’s stock was at an all-time high but we wouldn’t see him again until the film’s equally successful 2001 sequel.
As James Carter, Tucker was also able to display his admiration for singer, Michael Jackson, by mimicking his dance moves and singing voice. Jackson and Tucker were good friends in real life and Tucker even came to the King of Pop’s defense during his 2005 sexual assault trial. This is mostly all of what audiences saw from Tucker in years since the second Rush Hour film. I actually really enjoyed the first two movies so I thought a third film was a great idea. Those films spawned some great one-liners: (“This is cigaweed!” and “I’ll bitchslap you back to Bangkok”). A third film was eventually confirmed but would take awhile to see a release. Following Rush Hour 2, Tucker would disappear from film and stage for several years, claiming that he’ll only take a film role, “if the script interests me.”
During his time off, Tucker claims that he went around the world visiting children in impoverished communities and traveled to different Army bases doing comedy for soldiers. He also spent time with his family. It was looking more and more like comedy was in the back of his mind.
According to co-star Jackie Chan, one of the big delays in production for Rush Hour 3 was Tucker demanding a $25 million paycheck and the last word on the final cut of the film. This type of diva behavior was quite astounding and even rattled Chan who’s been wanting to do the film for years. Finally, after completing X-Men: The Last Stand, Brett Ratner assured fans that the third film was on its way and Rush Hour 3 finally hit theaters in 2007, ending Tucker’s six year hiatus from the big screen. It was pretty horrible compared to the first two with the same gimmicks and recycled comedy. The real problem, at least for me, was that the film took way too long to see the light of day. If this was released in 2003 or even 2004 when Jackie Chan was still a big star in America and the first films were still fresh in audiences’ minds then it would been received better. Rush Hour 3 in 2007? At that point, no one cared and the movie suffered as a result. Rush Hour 3 may have turned a profit but it looked like Tucker’s comeback wasn’t accepted by fans and critics and he subsequently went into hiding again.
In 2011, with reports of tax troubles looming, Tucker announced a return to the stage and embarked on a world tour. He subsequently appeared in the 2012 Oscar-winning film, Silver Linings Playbook, his first movie in five years where he played a mental patient and friend of Bradley Cooper’s character. I remember when I first saw the trailer on YouTube, I had to rewind it because I couldn’t believe that was Chris Tucker. It blew my mind that he would pop up randomly in a non-Rush Hour film. In 2013, he hosted the annual BET awards and continues to perform live to this day.
While Tucker’s absence through most of the 2000s was seen as a bold move, it looks like he’s slowly returning to the public eye. Maybe acting wasn’t his passion? Maybe he just took his money and ran? Well despite the reasons, there’s still quite a demand for him in all areas of Hollywood it seems. I’m actually interested in where things go from here in terms of his career. I’d love to see him reinvent himself and hopefully reunite with Ice Cube for another Friday film. C’mon, the entire world wants it!
Currently, Tucker is slated to appear in Ang Lee’s next film due out in 2016. Will Tucker regain the prominence he once had? Only time will tell.
