Anthony Anderson's been very busy. With starring roles in the 2003 movies, "Kangaroo Jack," "Cradle 2 the Grave," "Malibu's Most Wanted" and "My Baby's Mama," and the late-2002 movie, "Barbershop," Anderson's piling on the film credits and emerging from 'guy number 3' roles into leading man (or at the least co-leading man) status.
In this exclusive interview with the hard-working actor, Anderson talks about all of his upcoming projects, shares his thoughts on rappers who turn to acting, and names the one film that holds a special place in his heart:
ANTHONY ANDERSON
What's your role in "Cradle 2 the Crave?" Are you teamed up with DMX?
Yes. Me, DMX, Gabrielle Union and Drag-On are a group of high-tech diamond thieves. We pull this heist off and we take what we think are black diamonds but in actuality they're actually plutonium. They were smuggled into the country to sell on the black market to start a small war. They find out that we have them so they kidnap DMX's daughter so we have to barter with them and exchange his daughter for the plutonium. That's the story.
I'm a little bit tame in this one. I provide a little comic relief in it but it's not what people are normally used to seeing me do. It's sort of an action flick and you can't be that funny trying to steal diamonds.
Do you get in on any of the fight scenes?
At the end. I can honestly say I do not get my ass kicked in this film. For the first time in a long time, I do not get my ass kicked. Tom Arnold and I, we have a huge firefight scene on top of a German tank. I get to shoot 50 caliber rounds. We shoot a helicopter out of the sky. That's the only fight that I'm in - no fisticuffs. My fighting in this movie is all with semi-automatic weapons and grenades.
You've worked with DMX and Jet Li before.
Me and DMX - this is our third movie. This is our second movie with Jet Li. "Romeo Must Die" and "Exit Wounds" and "Cradle 2 the Grave" are with DMX and myself. "Romeo Must Die" and "Cradle 2 the Grave" are me and Jet Li.
You apparently like to work with Jet Li and DMX. What is it about those two?
I do. It's the combination that's been a winning combination for three films now. We enjoy each other's company. We have a lot of fun and we all have a friendship now so it's good.
With "Cradle 2 the Grave" being such an action movie, was there any opportunity to play loose with the script?
There is. This is the third time that I've worked with this director, Andrzej Bartkowiak. Andrzej's thing is that he's not an actor's director. Some actors need direction, some actors need to be told what to do, and that's what I mean by him not being an actor's director. Andrzej would come to me and say, "Anthony, baby, oh Anthony, you are going to look beautiful on screen. I've got the camera right in your face. You are going to look good 60 feet in the air. Just do what you do." Andrzej would just come to me and it was like, "Just be you. Do 'you' and have fun." And that's how we worked on three films.
"Romeo Must Die" was the first film that I did where I was ever able to just be free as an actor. And my choices were never wrong. They just allowed me that freedom, and Andrzej was the director who did that. That spilled over into "Exit Wounds" and of course that's exactly what they wanted in "Cradle 2 the Grave."
Does working with Bartkowiak give you a level of comfort you don't have with other directors?
I'm not going to say it gives me a level that I don't have with other directors but it's a freedom that you won't be able to get with every director that you work with.
What's your opinion about rappers who turn to acting? Some actors aren't too keen on rappers acting.
You take the quote from Sam Jackson about how he'll never work with a rapper and I can understand where he's coming from because he says rappers can't act, but you know, I've worked with some actors who can't act, as well. If they respect the craft and what we're doing and they bring something to the table and they work hard, I don't care what you do as your side job or as your day job. As long as you respect what I'm doing, then I appreciate that.
I understand what Hollywood is trying to bank on with them as entertainers or rappers or whatever. I understand how they are trying to put audiences in the seats by having them in the movies, but some of these guys… I've worked with Ice Cube, I think he's an immensely talented rapper and actor. You look at the flipside, you can say what you want to about a rapper in a movie but look at what Ice Cube has done. Ice Cube has created more opportunities for other actors to get jobs in this business than some actors have. If you respect the art and you have some talent about you, I'm on your team.
When "Kangaroo Jack" was released back in January, did you think it would open as big as it did?
I did. I thought it was going to open big. I didn't know how we were going to fare against my buddy's movie, "National Security." But it's a different kind of movie. I didn't know how big it was going to open but I can tell you this, I was hoping for it to be the #1 movie. I was hoping for that - and that's what I got.
I hear you're not a huge fan of camels. How difficult were they to work with?
The temperament of a camel and the smell of a camel's ass… A camel smells like hot fermented ass in the desert. They have the fastest digestive system known to man, or animal for that matter. You'd think they'd eat hay and grass, but I think they're on a solid diet of nothing but Mexican food and refried beans.
Were you allowed to do a lot of improv on "Kangaroo Jack?"
We were. They gave us the freedom just to play and to have fun. More often than not, that was the stuff they used for the movie. Do you think that they can write dialogue like that? That is strictly organic.
I got a note from [producer Jerry] Bruckheimer himself. He sent one of his producer's over to me and it was like, "Anthony, every scene that you do that's non-scripted we love and we're using it in the film, so could you do more, please?" That was a direct quote.
Do you think it was the right decision to go back in and add more CGI kangaroo scenes?
I do. I think that only helped the movie. It's a PG movie, we were appealing to that family-oriented audience. I think it was a great move for them to do that. I think that's what helped propel this movie to #1 opening weekend. I think that's what this was all about.
I heard you and Jerry O'Connell were a little upset that the poster for the movie featured the kangaroo, and not either of you.
Oh yeah. That damned kangaroo gets all the love (laughing). How are you going to have the number one movie in America, and you're not on the poster? We had no idea that that's how that was going to be. I'm thumbing through a magazine one day and I see "Kangaroo Jack" - and I see that's how it is, that's how it's going to be. It's all about the kangaroo.
But that's okay. When people go in there, they realize that the kangaroo did not propel this to number one - Jerry and myself propelled this to number one.
And you've also got "Malibu's Most Wanted" coming up. You and Taye Diggs both play actors playing gangsters. How does that work?
Jamie Kennedy's character is this white rapper who thinks he's from the 'hood. His father is Ryan O'Neal. He's running for office and Jamie's a distraction to his campaign because he rolls up in the Escalade, sitting on .22s and blasting hip-hop music. He has his hoochies with him and all that. So his press secretary, played by Blair Underwood, gets this idea to scare the 'black' out of Jamie Kennedy's character. They hire these two actors that they had play in his PSA - Taye Diggs and myself. We're these classically trained actors from Juilliard, and he hires us to play 'street.' We don't know anything about the street; the closest to the street that I've come is my cousin who works at the mall down in the hood. We enlist her help and we get caught up with real gangsters. In the process, Jamie Kennedy's character is on to us. He gets hip to the trick that we're playing on him. When we get caught up with these real gangsters he thinks this is still part of our plan, not knowing this is real.
What's it like working with Jamie Kennedy?
He's crazy. I'm a fan of his television show so that's why when they told me there's a part in this movie, I jumped at the chance to do it. We had a lot of fun. He's a very talented individual.
You also star in "My Baby's Mama."
That's Eddie Griffin, myself, and Michael Imperioli. It's the story of three childhood friends who are still living together as adults and they just happen to get their girlfriends pregnant at the same time. It's just really about the relationships between these three men and their three women and how it's affected because they're all becoming fathers. It's like "3 Men and a Baby" times three.
Eddie Griffin wrote the script and stars with you in the film. Is it difficult to change lines when you're working with the writer?
Not at all.
He lets you improv and doesn't care that those are his words that you're changing?
No, it's wild because Eddie understands the process as a comedian. They've been living with this material for so long that they like a fresh take on it. Whereas writer/directors, this is their baby. I've worked with them before and they are like, "No. You have to say this exactly how this is written." So that's how it is. You don't hire a talent like myself or a talent like Eddie Griffin and not expect them to bring what they bring to these characters, into these roles. Eddie encouraged it. He encouraged us all to have fun and to do what we do. That was no problem at all.
With all these films opening in 2003, is there one that's really your baby?
"Kangaroo Jack." Out of the 16 movies that I've made, three have yet to be released, seven of those have opened at #1 at the box office. "Kangaroo Jack" is the first movie that I've been in where I was the star, or co-star, so this is my baby. This is the one that holds special meaning to me. I can say I was associated with the success of those other films that debuted at #1, I was in it as number 3 guy or number 4 guy, but this one you can directly attribute to me. So this is the one that I favor. We all have children and we'd like to say that we love them all the same, but we know that there's one that we like a little bit more than the other. This is my baby that I love a little bit more than the other.
