Words by Terry Shropshire. Images by Kimberley Floyd for Steed Media Service.
He has the type of laugh that begins rumbling in the middle of his ample mid-section, generating steam upwardly like a force of nature. The laugh then shoots out of his cherubic face like shotgun projectiles, spraying his jovial personality in every direction and causing some to recoil because of its suddenness and ferocity. The second wave of laughs tumbles out his mouth in rolls like the tide. Once it settles like the low roar of waves crashing against the beach, his audience is already in stitches. And he hasn’t even said a word yet.
Smiles reflexively begin pulling at the ends of your mouth whenever the name Cedric the Entertainer floats through the atmosphere, much like when you take in the sight of the hefty humorist from Jefferson City, Mo. Cedric’s fans will get yet another opportunity to imbibe on his hilarious histrionics and verbal acrobatics in the uproarious Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins, the Universal Studios picture starring fellow funnyman Martin Lawrence. It will be a reunion of sorts for Cedric and Lawrence, who last teamed up in 2000 for the box -office blockbuster Big Momma’s House.
click here to view ro’s interview with Cedric The Entertainer
“Number one, Martin Lawrence is great. He’s one of the great comics of this era. We all loved his TV shows and movies. And I’ve had the chance to work with him before,” says Cedric. “This is a great opportunity to work together again. He’s great and he’s funny in this movie. I think people will really enjoy him as Roscoe Jenkins in this one.”
Cedric plays Lawrence’s sibling and arch-nemesis in Welcome Home who went off to run a successful car dealership that earns the ire of Roscoe Jenkins (Lawrence) because he’s looked on favorably by their father (played by legend James Earl Jones). But Cedric and Lawrence hardly carried the movie by themselves. The set of Welcome Home must have resembled a snake pit with all the comedians lurking on the grounds, including verbal knife throwers Mo’Nique and Mike Epps, who starred with Cedric in The Honeymooners. “This cast is full of a lot of great actors,” Cedric says, which included Margaret Avery as the mother, Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile, The Whole Nine Yards), and Joy Bryant. “It’s just a real full cast. And we had a ball doing this movie.”
Cedric Antonio Kyles, 43, has a ball making movies, period. Ever since he shot from the proverbial cannon 16 years ago on “It’s Showtime at the Apollo” in 1992, Cedric has made almost 20 pictures. But even though Cedric’s films have been mostly of the jocular variety, he is on the prowl to expand his acting portfolio.
“I get a lot of opportunities to do mainly a lot of comedic roles, and then I had some opportunities to take those comedic roles and make them a little more dramatic. It becomes a balancing act,” he says. “I definitely enjoy making people laugh. But then, as I mature as an actor, I always look for a role that has a little more meat to it. It’s something that you can pull a little more emotion from for the viewing audience. I [would] enjoy the opportunity to do something even more dramatic. I’m just looking for the right project.”
There have been a lot of successful projects thus far for the jovial jester with the easy-going, summer-breeze, front-porch type of comedy, including his breakout role in HBO’s “Def Comedy Jam” as well as his stint as the host of BET’s “ComicView” in 1993-1994. But it was his participation in the über-successful comedy tour-turned-movie The Original Kings of Comedy with Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley and Bernie Mac, which shot the four funnymen into the comedic stratosphere. All four went on to star in successful comedy serials, with Cedric playing Steve Harvey’s best friend, Cedric Jackie Robinson, on the “Steve Harvey Show.” Of course, there have been some belly flops into empty pools, particularly with The Honeymooners and Code Name: the Cleaner. But this universally lovable comedian has scored so many points with the likes of Barbershop, Be Cool (with John Travolta), Madagascar, and Johnson Family Vacation, which topped the box office for two consecutive weeks, that his movie misses dissolve from people’s consciousness quicker than the morning mist.
Cedric indicated he will pursue other types of roles in the future. But when Cedric begins to explore the more dramatic side of his acting career in suspense and horror films, he will have just a few requirements for the directors and script writers.
“I like to know if my character lives to the end. Do I die in the movie? And how much are they paying? Sometimes that’s the first thing,” he says, eliciting laughter in the background of this interview. “How much are they paying? OK, wow, what’s his relevancy to the movie. Does he die? Those are the main things.”
“You just want to know if it’s something you can get your teeth into,” he continues as he grows slightly somber. “Something that can challenge you as a performer and actor, that can take you to the next level as an actor.”
It’s not all jokes for Cedric, though, as he indicated in his popular personal memoir, Grown-A$$ Man. Ceddy ain’t the type to ration his words or back down from controversy when he feels he’s right. This was never more evident than when Cedric was drenched by a torrential downpour of criticism for what was deemed derogatory comments about Civil Rights icons in Barbershop. His detractors accused Cedric of violating everything short of the Patriot Act when his character commented on some black leaders’ alleged human frailties. But Cedric simply dismissed their criticism, noting that those types of conversations are characteristic of barbershops nationwide.
Cedric also believes that the best way to have opportunities is to create them yourself. Therefore, Cedric sits at the helm of his own production company, A Bird and a Bear Entertainment, where he’ll develop and produce feature films. Johnson Family Vacation was the first feature to come out of this platform, but there are more to follow. Several big names are climbing aboard the Cedric vehicle. The entertainer mentioned that Beyoncé was just cast as Etta James in his upcoming picture, Cadillac Records.
Cedric also believes in philanthropy. He founded the Cedric the Entertainer Charitable Foundation, which can be found on www.cedricfoundation.org or www.ceddybear.com. The foundation provides scholarships and outreach programs to help avert risk to disadvantaged urban youths in his hometown of St. Louis. Soon, Cedric will expand the foundation nationwide. Speaking of which, Cedric says he would implement some serious changes in the country if he were the nation’s commander in chief.
“If I was president, I would do better. I would get the gas prices down. Let me save you some money there,” he says, setting off a chorus of guffaws in the background. Just then Cedric takes a sharp left turn on the conversation. “I think that … we have to look at [and] really listen to America in trying to solve some of our internal problems and not always focusing on [being] the world police. And that’s kind of one of our things right now. We’re always out now, and we’re crushing to solve other people’s problems. But internally in America, we’re not really listening to each other to make us a stronger, greater nation. So as president, that’s one of the key things — is to get dialogues stronger from the inside, and then we can go outside.”
