Ice Cube revealed why he backed out on starring in Poetic Justice as Lucky, the role that eventually went to Tupac Shakur.
During an interview on Big Boy Neighborhood, Ice Cube said he decided not to take part in Poetic Justice after director John Singleton initially didn’t want Ice Cube to read the script. But when he did read finally read the script, Ice Cube didn’t love it and asked Singleton to change things. Singleton disagreed.
“He didn’t want to change it, so I didn’t want to do it,” said Ice Cube, as reported by Revolt. “The problem was, me playing [Tupac’s character], I don’t think I’d kick my homeboy out the car for a girl I just met when we got to Oakland. I didn’t think that was cool. It kinda made the character a sucker to me.”
However, it’s not just that Lucky told his friend to get out of the car because of Justice (Janet Jackson) was simply riding along. The truth of the scene, according to Atlanta Black Star, is that Lucky told his friend to get out of the car after he hits Justice.
Regardless, Ice Cube said that even though he wanted to be in the film to star opposite Jackson, he felt Shakur did a great job as Lucky, saying “I’m glad Tupac did it. I think he killed it.”
Ice Cube’s acting resume has been stacked, with reports of him cast opposite Ryan Destiny in Flint Strong, a biopic about boxer Calressa “T-Rex” Shield, and starring opposite Tracee Ellis Ross in The High Note. In 2020, Reese Witherspoon also said that she wanted Ice Cube to star in Big Little Lies if the show had a third season. Both Witherspoon and Big Little Lies co-star Laura Dern called Cube “such a good actor.”
