MARTIN LAWRENCE ON EXPLOSIONS ON AND OFFSCREEN
The Bad Boys star has a few more miles on the clock to reflect on his career
Martin Lawrence is not running quite like he used to, but he’s feeling just fine.
The comedian and actor pulled a muscle shooting a footrace with Will Smith in their new movie,
Bad Boys For Life, the third in a hit buddy-cop franchise that was birthed 25 years ago. Due for release in Thailand on Thursday, this instalment, not surprisingly, has a number of jokes about its leads getting older. (The “ride together, die together” tagline could be changed to “dye together”, now that Smith’s character needs to touch up the grey in his goatee.) And yet it still has the high-octane action that defines these movies.
Lawrence’s character, Marcus Burnett, much like Lawrence now, is a little reflective. They’ve both had long careers with ups and downs, and are thinking about their pasts as well as their futures.
In a phone interview between appearances in New York, Lawrence, 54, spoke about his break from movies, comedy today, his work on the self-titled sitcom that solidified his stardom in the 90s and whether, after a controversial turn hosting Saturday Night
Live, he still watches that show. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.
Bad Boys For Life is your first major
film role since Big Mommas: Like
Father, Like Son in 2011. Why did you take that long a break from starring in films?
I hadn’t gotten any scripts that I felt were good enough or that I wanted to be involved in. And I was dealing with some personal things in my life. I lost my mother. I lost my father. I lost my oldest brother. And so it just was a time for me to take to myself, spiritually, and reconnect and just get through.
The idea of making another Bad
Boys sequel had been under consideration for a while. What ultimately brought you back?
Well first and foremost, working with Will again. Having that opportunity to work with one of the best in the business once again was a great joy for me. And the fact that we had a great script that we thought was worthy of giving people nothing less than the first two.
Part of the fun of these movies is the banter between your characters. Did you two improvise jokes?
We did it less in this film. In the others, we ad-libbed a lot more. In this one, a lot of it was mostly on the page.
Are you and Will friendly beyond these movies?
Most definitely. Will is one of my good friends. I could call Will about anything, and he could call me about anything.
Were there any challenges on set this time around, with particular action moments?
Yeah, I wasn’t able to work out as much before the film because I had hurt my back onstage when I was on tour. So when we did a running scene, I pulled a muscle. We had to use my stunt guys. But when you see it on film, you wouldn’t know that.
Are you ready to make more movies after doing this?
Yeah, but I don’t want to be making movies just to be making movies. I don’t want to do anything that’s not worthy of my time. I want to work with good people on good movies.
You’re hosting a comedy tour again this year. What’s different about comedy now and the comedians you’re working with, as opposed to when you were hosting Def Comedy Jam?
There really isn’t a difference. The comics were going for it back when I was doing Def Comedy Jam. And the comics that I take out on the Lit tour, they’re going for it, too, seizing the moment and taking advantage of their time.
Do you see stand-up as your first love?
Most definitely. Stand-up is my baby. It’s where I started.
You have a lot of well-established comics, like Lil Rel Howery, Adele Givens and Hannibal Buress, on your tour. Are there other comedians outside of those that you find interesting?
No, the ones I’m working with I find interesting. I’m not concerned about what everybody else is doing.
Is there anything you see in the comedy world now that you feel is a direct result of your influence?
I think people are able to be more honest, blunt and forthcoming now. I took hits when I got an NC-17 for my
You So Crazy film (in 1994). And as a result of that, comics can say what they want to say.
There was also a strong reaction to the time you hosted Saturday
Night Live in 1994 and your opening monologue, which got you banned from the show.
I have no comment on Saturday Night
Live, that’s not my thing. I had my time on there, and it was what it was and I’ve moved on with my life.
Do you watch it at all anymore?
The only time I watched it was when Eddie (Murphy) was just on there.
If the Martin Lawrence of today were able to talk to the Martin Lawrence from 25 years ago, what advice would you give him?
I’d say be more patient, more understanding of situations that are beyond your control. Learn how to grow to be a better person each day and give the best of yourself.
What is your favourite character that you created for Martin?
Sheneneh, Jerome and Otis are the ones that stand out for me. The attitude of Sheneneh reminds me of my nieces and my sisters, how they can get on you and put you in your place real quick. Otis is the old man who doesn’t let you take old people for granted. And Jerome is just that player that’s cool and everybody wants to be around.
Having a career that has spanned three decades, what would you say is the biggest thing you’ve learned over these years?
I’d say just be a professional. And be a little selfish about what you want. Then put your all into it. That’s what we did with Bad Boys. We put our heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into those movies.
Be a professional. And be a little selfish about what you want. Then put your all into it