CNN.com - From 'Boyz' to the 'Barbershop'

By Alisha Davis
CNN Headline News

Ice Cube

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(CNN) -- Rapper and actor Ice Cube made his film debut in "Boyz N the Hood," had audiences rolling in the aisles with his movie "Friday," and now the star is back on the big screen cutting it up in the new comedy "Barbershop."

Over the weekend, Ice Cube took some time out from celebrating his new film's No. 1 debut at the box office to give us "The Scoop":

ALISHA: Tell us a little bit more about this film. It revolves around one special day at a barbershop on Chicago's South Side.

ICE CUBE: You hit it right there. I play the owner of the barbershop, a character by the name of Calvin. And Calvin doesn't really know what he's got -- he really doesn't know what the barbershop means to the community -- until he sells it. Then he realizes what the place means to everyone, and so he tries to get it back. Intertwined with that is a whole bunch of laughs and a whole bunch of fun because we know the barbershop is a place people can get real.

ALISHA: Is that fun side what attracted you to this movie?

ICE CUBE: To me, this movie is as significant as "Boyz N the Hood." It's a movie that shows black people have different opinions, that we all don't think the same way. It shows that you can throw a topic out there at a place like a barbershop and the elders and the youngsters can be brutally honest about anything on any topic of the day. I wanted to bring that sense of community to the big screen.

ALISHA: And you have a great supporting cast that help to represent different members of that community: Cedric the Entertainer and Sean Patrick Thomas are film and TV veterans. And you also have rapper Eve, who is a relative newcomer to the film business.

ICE CUBE: You know, Eve was picked by Tim Story, the director, and she came in like a pro. This is her second movie, but she acts like she's been in it for 10 years like me. This is definitely a second career for her.

ALISHA: In this film you say you play the barbershop owner, did you actually have to cut hair in the movie?

ICE CUBE: A little bit. In the movie I look like a pro, but I'm not ready to give up my day job yet.