Rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube is a legendary figure of West Coast hip-hop who burst onto the scene in the 1980s as a member of NWA. However, in the 1990s, he began to enter the world of Hollywood and was cast by John Singleton to appear in the iconic film Boyz n The Hood.
The now-legendary film was Singleton’s first film and aimed to give audiences a glimpse into the life of a gangster from South Central LA. However, the young film school grad used some unusual methods to make his movie debut as authentic as possible.
The inexperienced director used his street smarts and intuition to direct Boyz n The Hood, and, as a result of intelligent casting and unconventional tactics, Singleton produced a film that propelled its cast into stardom.
Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube, and Morris Chestnut played the iconic trio of Tre, Doughboy and Ricky Baker. However, according to a Tweet sent out by Ice Cube, Singleton made sure that their on-screen reactions were authentic and not staged.
In an exciting and previously unheard revelation, Ice Cube took to Twitter to reveal some unknown facts, writing, “Rehearsing for the Crenshaw scene for Boyz N Tha Hood, John never told us that it would be real gunfire during the scene. All reactions were real. John was brilliant. I miss him.”
Since his appearance in Boyz n The Hood, Ice Cube has appeared in a number of films, including Friday, Ride Along, Are We There Yet, Barbershop and more. In fact, he is one of the most successful actors hip-hop has birthed.
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, when asked about acting, Ice Cube revealed it was John Singleton who made him an actor, stating, “I wasn’t thinking about it at first. John Singleton discovered me. he was an intern at the Arsenio Hall Show, and he came up to me backstage and said, ‘I’m a put you in a movie’. I forgot about him, then he ran up to me at a Public Enemy concert like ‘Remember Me? I’m going to put you in my movie!'”
He continued, “He gave me a script. I didn’t take it seriously; I put the script in the back seat, went to this audition, and it was him sitting there!” Since his appearance in John Singleton’s film, Ice Cube has become an esteemed actor. You can see Ice Cube’s tweet below.