Chris Tucker: On Rush Hour 3

Funnyman Chris Tucker first made an impression in stand-up comedy cracking people up with his Cuban accent impression of Al Pacino in the gangster hit Scarface. We remember Chris for a crazy, trans-gender performance as futuristic media entertainment commentator Ruby Rhod in the very visual Bruce Willis sci-fier The Fifth Element. But Chris really hit the bigtime playing police detective James Carter in the first of the funny Rush Hour films co-starring Jackie Chan back in 1998. Then came Rush Hour 2 and now, finally, years later, Rush Hour 3 which finds the unlikely duo reunited.

What took so long and what has Chris been up to? Chris tells press that he's been traveling the world and working on drawing attention to huge humanitarian problems in Africa and he talked about the new film, working with Jackie and his future plans. Picture Chris in a lime green Adidas jacket with "Muhammad Ali" printed on it, over a white tee topped off with a gold and diamond necklace.

TeenHollywood: Let's take a look backward. What was it like the 1st time out working with Jackie Chan?

Chris: Well the 1st time we met was because he was Jackie Chan and I'm a big fan of his. But, as is true to life, this relationship and friendship is like the movie because the 1st time we met, Jackie didn't know who I was. I was this up and coming comedian and so New Line said let's bring them together in a meeting and have Jackie fly here so he can meet him and see if he wants to do the movie with Chris.

TeenHollywood: So, it wasn't exactly love at first sight?

Chris: In all the meeting, Jackie didn't say anything to me and I was talking to him. I went to get a drink and said 'does Jackie speak English man? Because he won't say nothing to me'. And they said 'he speaks English -that's just his coach and he's just feeling you out'. And that's how I came up with [the famous Rush Hour line] 'Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?' So for the whole first movie, I played it like that and it was like that in real life. He was the fish out of water in the 1st movie. The 2nd movie, I was the fish out of water in Hong Kong. 3rd movie we're both the fish out of water. We're friends, we're brothers and it's just more fun the closer we get. I think that people love to see this journey and this friendship develop. It's just getting funner and funner.

TeenHollywood: You are doing a lot more action in this one. That comes naturally for Jackie but did you do a lot of training?

Chris: Jackie makes it easy. He tells me to go to my trailer (in Jackie accent) 'go to your trailer, go to your trailer, I take care of you'. So I come back right before we start filming. He shows me these easy steps, these 1-2 steps, and I get it. I see it cut together, I say 'wow, that look cool'. Jackie is incredible with that stuff, what he does. It's great. I work out just before I start doing the movie. I'll go out on the road and do a tour to get my comedy chops together and get sharp and get my timing back. Other than that, I just show up and make sure I'm in shape. Jackie is so good at what he does, it makes it so easy.

TeenHollywood: What were you up to between Rush Hour 2 and this new one?

Chris: I did a lot of traveling around the world. I was doing a lot of humanitarian work. It's something that just sort of happened because I went to Africa when I was promoting the 1st movie. And I was working all day, doing press and people were telling me to go through the townships. 'You really need to go see Africa. Go to Soweto and see the kids'. I said 'OK'. I went back the next year and I started doing a lot of work and I started going all over Africa; I went to 15 different countries and it was so refreshing and fulfilling for me because I love to see these people who don't have much but they're so happy and appreciative that I was there. I got all this knowledge of what's going on in the world so that's what I was doing for 6 years.

TeenHollywood: You were bringing the gift of laughter?

Chris: Yeah, and it makes you appreciate it too. When I make people make laugh, that makes them forget whatever they're going through in life and it's giving. When I was over there, I was giving my time and I was getting something back so it really changed my outlook at life. You lose a lot of your privacy as a celebrity and this way I was really taking advantage of my celebrity and I was really happy about what I'm doing instead just being in the news really.

TeenHollywood: Do you ever get discouraged when you look at the scope of the problem?

Chris: Yeah, all the time. I remember in Ethiopia, we went to an orphanage and there was a wall full of babies and there were only 2 nuns and most of [the babies] was crying and I was like `oh man, what could I possibly do to change anything over here? But, if I just do my part maybe somebody will see what I'm doing and they'll be concerned about what's going on in Africa' and that's what's happening. Because I started this long before it was popular. Now we got Don Cheadle and different people going to Africa concerned about what's going on in Darfur and Sudan and you've got Angelina Jolie adopting babies and Bono has been a big influence on our people too. Jay-Z, Alicia Keyes are doing a lot of things in Africa now. So you just do your part.

TeenHollywood: How about traveling to Paris for this film. How do you think they see Americans right now?

Chris: I love Paris and the Parisian people was cool with me. That's what this movie does is bring cultures together. Because Americans, we're kind of arrogant because we expect everyone to speak English. And the French say (in French accent), 'no, I am not going to speak English, no, no'. So we all got our little things and I appreciate every culture. There is something special about every culture.

TeenHollywood: You are a much quieter guy in person than in the movie. The guy in the movie is always dialed up to 11. Is that what people who meet you expect?

Chris: Most people are surprised because they come with the jokes and I'll be tired, 'Look man, that's the movies.' But I'm normally a quiet person. Most comedians, we're quiet because we observe a lot of things. And I was a quiet kid, I was the youngest of six kids, and I used to sit and watch my older brothers, watch my older sisters, and I see them make their mistakes and see what happens, why they'd get a whippin' and I wouldn't do it. I observed a lot. And when I went to school I was like more advanced than the kids my age because I had older brothers and sisters. I think that helped me a lot.

TeenHollywood: How much do you ad-lib through the film?

Chris: Oh, a lot, a lot. The script is just a guideline. I do some of the stuff in the script, most of it, and then on top of that I put my own personality, so I do a lot of improv and stuff, it comes out natural and people like that.

TeenHollywood: Jackie was saying that after Rush Hour 2 came out and it was a hit he was ready to go with number 3 right away. Was this the time when you were busy traveling?

Chris: Yeah, I was traveling, and also the studios they would have filmed the movie just in Los Angeles, Jackie don't know I had to fight for like, 'Let's shoot in Paris, it's got to be different. We went to Hong Kong last time, let's go to Paris, let's go somewhere different.' They don't give up too easily so I was like, 'Well, I'm not going to do the movie if you don't want to make it just as good or better.' Then we had to get a script that we thought was good enough to make it even compete with the second one, so it took time. And then Jackie was off filming movies, Brett [Ratner, the director] was off filming X-Men, I was doing what I was doing, so I was like, 'Just let me know when you're serious,' so that's what happened. I went to see Jackie in Hong Kong three months before the movie and asked him is he really ready? And then I flew back, but now we're like brothers, and it's a great relationship.

TeenHollywood: In between films do you actually see him, or keep in touch?

Chris: We sort of go our separate ways, and he'll call me out of the blue, or I'll call him out of the blue, or if he's here in the States we'll get together. I always go somewhere in the world and they say, 'Jackie Chan just left here.' So it's a great, great relationship, because I know he has his own things he's doing in his own life, but when we get together we have so much respect for each other.

TeenHollywood: Do you have a favorite action scene in this movie?

Chris: Oh man, I like the fighting on top of the Eiffel Tower, the fight scene, I think that was real cool. And Jackie choreographed that cool stuff, so it was real nice.

TeenHollywood: Jackie was saying that he almost got hurt on that table sequence, was there any close calls for you?

Chris: Well, my stuntman got hurt. I told him not to do it, but he said, 'This is my job.' No, in this one Jackie made it pretty safe, but the first one I had a carpet burn on my back when Jackie dragged me across this carpet. But that's the only injury I've ever had on the Rush Hour films.

TeenHollywood: How do you think Jackie is holding up now that he's in his fifties? I mean the physical stuff, does he still surprise you?

Chris: Yeah, he looks good. He's in better shape than me most the time, he looks good, every time I see him he looks younger and thinner, I'm like, 'Man, what are you doing?' (imitates Jackie) 'Jackie Chan medicine.' He's always in great shape.

TeenHollywood: There is a scene where a really tall guy picks you up like a toy. How tall was he?