DVD Article

Mario Van Peebles discusses his directorial debut

Mario Van Peebles discusses his directorial debut -- Actor tells EW about his turn behind the camera in ''New Jack City''

By Tom Sinclair | Aug 19, 2005

Tom Sinclair

Tom Sinclair is a senior writer for EW and has been called "the handsomest man in rock criticism'' (by his wife)

Share
Comments
Add your comment

Van Peebles' feature-film directorial debut, the hip-hop cop flick New Jack City, now out in a Special Edition(R, 101 mins., 1991, Warner), still looks baadasssss!

Despite the violence, NJC is a moral film.

My thing was not ''Can I make a hit movie?'' It was ''Can I make a hit movie with a message?''

What was it Ice-T wanted you to call the movie?

''Killin' Up S ---.'' [Laughs]He was dead serious, too.

The film juiced the careers of Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, and Chris Rock.

It did sort of create the viable black leading man. Up to that time we were still playing the comedic guy or the [white guy's] best friend, never the Guy. I was able to make Wesley the Guy. Initially, he wanted to play the cop and Ice-T wanted to play the gangster. The key was to flip it.

What's up with putting Color Me Badd's ''I Wanna Sex You Up'' video on the extras disc?

Wait — they put that on there?!

Originally posted Aug 19, 2005 Published in issue #836 Aug 26, 2005 Order article reprints

Share
Comments
Add your comment

SOAP WATCH Soap Watch: Antonio Sabato Jr. in 'GH' spinoff
Movie Article Inside 'New Jack City'
SOAP WATCH New daytime column: ''Soap Watch''
Movie Article Actor has ''Sweet'' success with dad's struggles
Random Quote Random Quote: Mario Van Peebles

Add your comment

The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.