Video:Ice Cube and Erik White Lottery Ticket Interviews
with Rebecca MurrayDirector Erik White makes his feature film debut with 'Lottery Ticket,' a comedy with a huge ensemble cast including Ice Cube (who also serves as a producer). At the film's world premiere, White and Ice Cube discussed what sets this comedy apart.
Transcript:Ice Cube and Erik White Lottery Ticket Interviews
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the World Premiere of Warner Bros Pictures' Lottery Ticket.
Ice Cube - 'Mr Washington' in Lottery Ticket
You're producing this too. How important is it for you to pick your projects correctly?Ice Cube: "Well, you know, you want to do good movies. You don't get too many strikes at it. You know, people, if they go to bad movie after bad movie, they are going to stop giving you a chance. I think we've worked hard on our brand at Cube Vision, and we've been rewarded with success and longevity, and people enjoy our movies."
When your name is attached to movie, people expect a certain thing. How did you know this movie was going to live up to it?
Ice Cube: "You know, it was a great script. Erik White, we knew he was ready. We knew we could put an ensemble cast together full of people that we've worked with in the past. We just had that feeling that this was going to be one of those movies that people remember."
How did you know you could take a chance on Erik because he hadn't directed a feature film before?
Ice Cube: "Well you know after meeting with him we knew that he was ready to take the next step. He was intelligent to know what he wanted to do and he was intelligent enough to know what he needed to learn. So we're there as producers to help the director get his vision off and, you know, sometimes help him when he gets in deep water. And that's what we did."
And you also play a character that's based on your dad... You studied your dad or your grandfather?
Ice Cube: "Yeah, I looked at my father a lot on this role. It's kind of a tribute to him and his flavor, and all the advice he gave me over the years. It was a great character to play."
Is there anything happening with the Welcome Back, Kotter movie?
Ice Cube: "I would like to see it, too. The movie's kind of shelved right now. I don't know what's going on. The Weinstein Company, they bought the project and then they shelved it so I don't know."
Erik White - Director of Lottery Ticket
So how did you come up with the story for this?Erik White: "Really, I had this story since '98. I was sitting on this. I grew up in Brooklyn in the projects, and I always wondered why watching TV Ed McMahon would always show up at some house in the suburbs with a big check. I'm like, 'How come you're not coming to my house, Ed? What's the deal?' So, I mean, that always stuck in my mind - what if somebody in a closed environment like the projects wins, knowing that everybody knows your business. That's really the basis for the story."
Did you always have in mind somebody like Bow Wow to play the lead role?
Erik White: "You know what? Bow Wow, I always wanted something for this and when he auditioned for this, he just blew me away. He has a lot of depth and people are going to be surprised at his level of acting ability from his last role to this role. [It's] amazing."
Well, he's grown up.
Erik White: "Bow Wow's grown up. He's not Lil Bow Wow anymore. He's Bow Wow, soon it will just be Bow, soon it will just be B."
When you have a cast like this with all those names up there that are above the name of the movie, how do you balance that? You've got to give them each their time.
Erik White: "That was the hardest part because everybody had something funny or something to offer. So we just, we split it up in days. One day would be Mike Epps, the next day would be Charlie Murphy, the next day would be Terry Crews. I mean, you can imagine how much fun it was for me waking up and going to set. I mean it was something new every time."
So is it that they stayed on the script at all or did they totally go off of it?
Erik White: "The thing for me and these veteran actors is we stuck to the script but we would do two takes to the script and then I'd give them two more of whatever they wanted to do. And whatever they wanted to do is pretty much what's in there. So what are you going to do? You know what I mean? Why write anything? It's crazy."
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