0:01 What's up?
0:04 >> Good morning. Are you prepared for
0:07 Jehovah's return? Because if you're not,
0:10 I have a plan for today.
0:12 >> Friday didn't follow the rules. It broke
0:14 them on purpose. Actors bombed
0:16 auditions. Scenes got rewritten on the
0:18 spot. Real gang members wandered into
0:20 frame. And one bathroom rant wasn't even
0:22 in the script. These are 12 weird facts
0:25 about Friday. And buried in the bonus, a
0:26 moment so real the crew couldn't control
0:29 it, so they just kept rolling. Number
0:32 one, the budget is either $2.3 million
0:35 or $3.5 million depending on who you
0:38 believe. Ice Cube tweets in 2016 that
0:41 Friday cost $2.3 million. He's defending
0:43 himself against criticism about not
0:45 paying the cast enough. Every official
0:47 source says 3.5 million. Box Office Mojo
0:51 says 3.5. IMDb says 3.5. New Line
0:53 Cinema's Records say 3.5. Ice Cube
0:56 insists to 2.3. That's a $1.2 million
0:58 discrepancy. Nobody knows where the
1:00 missing money went or if it ever
1:02 existed. Either Cub's misremembering his
1:04 own film's budget or every database on
1:06 the internet is wrong. Either way, the
1:09 film makes 27.4
1:11 million worldwide. The budget confusion
1:12 doesn't matter when you're printing money.
1:12 money.
1:15 >> And I'm trying to [ __ ] are broke these days.
1:16 days.
1:18 >> Number two, Chris Tucker got paid
1:22 $10,000 and then refused $12 million for
1:24 the sequel. Tucker makes $10,000 for
1:26 Friday. Three weeks of work, the film
1:28 makes him a star. Rush Hour pays him5
1:30 million. Rush Hour 2 pays him 20
1:32 million. Rush Hour 3 pays him 25
1:35 million. In 2007, Tucker becomes the
1:36 highest paid actor in Hollywood. New
1:39 Line offers him 10 to 12 million for
1:41 Next Friday. Tucker says no, he's found
1:42 religion. He doesn't want to smoke weed
1:44 on camera anymore. The character
1:46 requires constant marijuana use. Tucker
1:48 walks away from generational wealth
1:49 because of his faith. Ice Cube replaces
1:51 him with Mike Eps. The sequels make
1:53 money, but Smokeoky's absence is felt.
1:56 Tucker's performance at $10,000 becomes
1:57 one of the most iconic in comedy
2:00 history. You can't replace that. Number
2:02 three, DJ Pooh was supposed to play
2:05 Smokey until New Line demanded an
2:07 experienced comedian. DJ Pooh co-writes
2:09 the script with Ice Cube. Smokey is
2:11 based on Puh's past as a dealer in South
2:13 Central. Pooh plans to play the role
2:16 himself. New Line Cinema says no. They
2:17 want a seasoned comedian with stand-up
2:19 experience. The studio doesn't trust a
2:21 firsttime screenwriter to also star in
2:23 the film. Pooh gets bumped down to Red,
2:25 who gets knocked out by Debo. Chris Rock
2:27 reads for Smokey. Tommy Davidson reads
2:29 for Smokey. Chris Tucker walks in and
2:31 improvises half his audition. Tucker
2:33 gets the part. Pooh watches his own
2:35 character become a cultural icon in
2:37 someone else's hands. Tucker's manic
2:39 energy and falsetto voice makes Smokey
2:41 legendary. Pooh creates the character.
2:43 Tucker makes people remember him.
2:45 >> I did. I went in there to pick up my
2:48 check. Came home. Supervisor called me
2:49 about 4:00.
2:52 >> Number four. F. Gary Gray was terrified
2:54 to direct because Ice Cube was the
2:56 toughest man in America. Gray directs
2:58 music videos for Dr. Dre and Ice Cube.
3:00 He's never made a feature film. Ice Cube
3:02 offers him Friday as his directorial
3:05 debut. Gray panics. In interviews, he
3:06 admits he's terrified the audience won't
3:08 accept Ice Cube in a comedy. This is
3:11 1995. Cub's known for the police and
3:14 playing Doughboy in Boys in the Hood.
3:16 Gray worries America won't believe the
3:17 toughest man in the country can be
3:19 funny. He shoots the film in 20 days at
3:21 houses belonging to his childhood
3:22 friends in South Central. The scene
3:24 where Debo punches Red is filmed at
3:27 Gray's actual childhood home. Gray even
3:28 cameos in the liquor store scene. The
3:30 film works because Gray knows the
3:32 neighborhood. He's not an outsider
3:34 trying to manufacture authenticity. He
3:36 grew up on these streets. The comedy
3:38 comes from lived experience, not
3:40 Hollywood imagination. Gray goes on to
3:42 direct The Italian Job and Straight Out
3:43 of Compton, but he's never as scared as
3:45 he is on day one of [music] Friday,
3:46 watching Ice Cube try to make people
3:49 laugh. Number five, Ice Cube plans to
3:52 self- finance Friday on credit cards
3:54 like Robert Townsen did with Hollywood
3:57 Shuffle. Ice Cube and DJ Pooh realize
3:59 their inexperience makes major studios
4:01 unlikely to finance the film. They float
4:02 the idea of self- financing. Robert
4:04 Townsen's Hollywood Shuffle becomes
4:07 their blueprint. Townsen makes his 1987
4:09 comedy about black actors in Hollywood
4:10 by charging everything to credit cards.
4:13 Ice Cube sees this and thinks he can do
4:14 the same. He's ready to max out credit
4:16 cards for equipment and locations. New
4:18 Line Cinema hears about the script and
4:21 steps in. They offer $3.5 million. The
4:23 credit card plan gets shelved, but Ice
4:24 Cube's willingness to risk personal
4:26 bankruptcy for the film shows how badly
4:28 he wants to make it. Townsen proves you
4:30 can make a movie with no money and no
4:32 studio. Ice Cube proves you can take
4:34 that same independent spirit and turn it
4:36 into a studio hit. Hollywood Shuffle
4:39 makes 8 million on credit cards. Friday
4:41 makes 27 million with studio backing.
4:42 Both films change what's possible for
4:44 black filmmakers. The credit card plan
4:46 never happens, but the desperation
4:48 behind it drives Ice Cube to make sure
4:50 Friday gets made one way or another. [laughter]
4:52 [laughter]
4:54 >> What's up, Craig?
4:56 >> Number six, Angela means coached Chris
4:58 Tucker over spaghetti dinner after he
5:00 bombed his first audition. Tucker's
5:02 first audition goes terribly. He doesn't
5:03 understand the character. The casting
5:05 directors aren't impressed. Tucker
5:07 contacts Angela Means, who's already
5:09 been cast as Felicia. He asks for her
5:10 acting coach's number. Means invites him
5:12 to her house instead. She cooks
5:13 spaghetti and they workshop the role
5:15 over dinner. Means later says by the
5:17 time that spaghetti was gone, Chris was
5:19 Smokey. One meal saves Tucker's career.
5:21 He goes back for a second audition with
5:22 Mean's coaching in his head. The manic
5:24 energy, the falsetto panic, the physical
5:26 comedy, it all comes from that spaghetti
5:28 dinner. Tucker gets the part. The film
5:30 makes him a star. And it happens because
5:32 Angela Means decides to help instead of
5:34 guarding her acting coach like a secret.
5:36 One act of generosity changes Tucker's
5:37 entire trajectory. He goes from bombing
5:39 an audition to becoming the highest paid
5:41 actor in Hollywood. All because someone
5:43 made him spaghetti. Number seven, the
5:45 film is based on Ice Cube's cousin
5:48 getting fired from UPS and DJ Pooh's
5:50 real life in South Central. Ice Cube
5:52 calls Friday mostly autobiographical.
5:54 Craig getting fired on his day off came
5:56 straight from Cub's own family. His
5:58 cousin worked for UPS and was abruptly
6:00 let go after being accused of stealing
6:02 boxes. He swore he didn't do it, but the
6:04 company dropped him anyway. Cube watched
6:05 the fallout and thought the story was
6:07 too perfect not to use. That real life
6:09 injustice becomes Craig's entire
6:11 motivation in the movie. Smokey comes
6:13 directly from DJ Pooh's past. Puh has
6:15 openly said he grew up around dealers in
6:16 South Central, understood the
6:18 neighborhood ecosystem, and knew exactly
6:20 how guys operated on the block, the way
6:22 they hustled, the way they talked, the
6:23 way they got into trouble they couldn't
6:25 talk their way out of. Smokey was a
6:26 comedic exaggeration, but his roots were
6:29 real. Nearly every character in Friday
6:31 was built from people Cube and Pooh knew
6:33 growing up. Debo, Red, Felicia, Big
6:35 Worm. They weren't copies of real
6:37 individuals, but composits of the types
6:39 of people who existed on their streets.
6:41 Cube always said Hollywood only showed
6:43 one version of the hood. Tragedy. He
6:45 wanted to show the version he knew. The
6:47 jokes, the lazy afternoons, the people
6:49 hanging out on porches, the neighborhood
6:51 drama that was big but never fatal.
6:53 >> What's up, Greg?
6:55 What's up, Smokey? >> Nothing.
6:56 >> Nothing.
6:58 >> Number eight. Buy Felicia becomes an
7:01 internet meme 20 years after release.
7:03 Angela means plays Felicia for maybe 3
7:05 minutes of screen time. She asks to
7:07 borrow a car. Craig says no. She asks to
7:09 borrow money. Smokey says no. She walks
7:11 away. Craig waves dismissively and says,
7:13 "Bye, Felicia." It's a throwaway line in
7:16 1995. Nobody quotes it. Nobody thinks
7:19 about it. Then around 2015, the internet
7:21 discovers it. The phrase explodes as a
7:23 universal dismissal. Politicians use it.
7:24 Brands use it. People who've never seen
7:26 Friday use it means watches her tiny
7:28 role become the thing everyone knows her
7:30 for. She cries in interviews about being
7:32 typ cast. She's a talented actress
7:34 reduced to two words. People recognize
7:36 her on the street and yell by Felicia
7:37 with the wrong spelling. The meme
7:39 outlives the movie. Most people using
7:41 the phrase have no idea where it came
7:43 from. Angela means creates one of the
7:45 most quoted lines in film history and
7:47 gets nothing but typ casting in return.
7:50 Number nine, Friday is only the third
7:52 screenplay Ice Cube ever wrote. Ice Cube
7:54 writes two screenplays before Friday.
7:56 Neither one gets developed. Neither one
7:58 gets made. He has zero formal
8:00 screenwriting training, no film school,
8:03 no classes, no mentors. John Singleton
8:05 tells him, "If you can write a record,
8:06 you can write a movie." Cube believes
8:08 him. He writes Friday with DJ Pooh
8:10 [music] in weeks. They know the
8:12 characters because they lived with these
8:13 people. They know the dialogue because
8:15 they heard it their whole lives. The
8:17 structure is simple. One day, one
8:20 neighborhood, one problem. Big Worm
8:22 wants his money or someone dies.
8:23 Everything else is character
8:25 interaction. No complicated plot
8:27 mechanics, no three-act structure from a
8:28 screenwriting book, just people being
8:30 people for 90 minutes. The script works
8:32 because it's authentic. Cube writes what
8:35 he knows. The film makes $27 million.
8:37 Cube's third screenplay ever becomes one
8:38 of the most influential comedies of the
8:40 '90s. All because John Singleton tells
8:42 him writing movies isn't that different
8:44 from writing rap. Turns out he's right.
8:47 And won't you get your ass up today? Go
8:50 out and look for a job.
8:52 >> Number 10. John Witherspoon improvises
8:54 most of his dialogue, including the
8:56 entire toilet scene. Witherspoon plays
8:58 Mr. Jones, Craig's father. The bathroom
9:00 scene isn't in the script. Witherspoon
9:02 improvises the whole thing. Every time I
9:04 come in the kitchen, you in the kitchen
9:05 eating up all the food. The rant about
9:08 cereal and bowls and kitchen privilege
9:09 becomes the most quoted scene in the
9:12 movie besides by Felicia. Once
9:14 Witherspoon realizes FG Gary Gray will
9:16 let him improvise, he takes over every
9:18 scene he's in. His natural comedic
9:20 timing makes a supporting character into
9:22 a scene stealer. The toilet monologue is
9:23 Witherspoon doing stand-up disguised as
9:25 acting. Gray keeps the camera rolling
9:27 and lets him work. Witherspoon reprises
9:29 the role in Next Friday and Friday After
9:31 Next. Mr. Jones becomes iconic because
9:33 Witherspoon refuses to stick to the
9:35 script. He's a veteran comedian who
9:36 knows what's funny. He trusts his
9:38 instincts over the written page. The
9:40 film is better because Gray trusts him
9:42 back. Number 11, Bernie Mack's pastor.
9:45 Clever Scene is one perfect take of pure
9:47 physical comedy. Bernie Mack plays
9:49 Pastor Clever for 2 minutes of screen
9:51 time. He runs from Mr. Parker's house in
9:53 absolute panic. The character thinks
9:55 he's witnessed a murder. The physical
9:57 comedy mixes with genuine terror. Mac
9:59 nails it in one take. Film schools study
10:01 the scene as a masterclass in comedic
10:04 timing. The way Mac moves, the panic in
10:06 his voice, the escalating hysteria, it's
10:08 all perfectly calibrated. He's [music]
10:09 not doing bits. He's fully committed to
10:11 the character's fear. That's what makes
10:13 it funny. Mac uses Friday as a launching
10:15 pad to bigger starting. He gets the
10:17 Bernie Mack shows six years later. But
10:19 comedy nerds remember Pastor Clever
10:20 running down the street screaming about
10:22 a body. 2 minutes of screen time. One
10:24 perfect take. Bernie Mack shows everyone
10:26 on set what a professional looks like.
10:29 Number 12. Three main cast members die
10:32 before last. Friday can be made. John
10:34 Witherspoon dies in October 2019. Tommy
10:36 Tiny Listister Jr. dies in December
10:38 2020. Anthony AJ Johnson dies in
10:41 September 2021. Three legends gone in
10:43 two years. Ice Cube completes the last
10:45 Friday script in April 2019, one month
10:47 before Witherspoon's death. Warner Bros.
10:49 rejects it. Cube writes two versions.
10:51 One where Craig's in prison, another
10:52 built around Craig's relationship arc.
10:54 The studio says no to both. Witherspoon,
10:56 Listister, and Johnson [music] die
10:58 waiting for a sequel that never comes.
11:00 Ice Cube goes on social media. You let
11:02 our legends die. The franchise becomes a
11:04 memorial instead of a continuation. In
11:07 June 2024, Last Friday goes back into
11:08 development, but it's too late. Mr.
11:11 Jones is gone. Debo is gone. Eol is
11:13 gone. The film can't recapture what made
11:15 the original work because the original
11:17 cast is dead. Friday becomes a time
11:19 capsule, a record of a moment and a
11:21 neighborhood, and people who made the
11:22 world laugh. You can't remake that. You
11:24 can't replace those performances. The
11:26 sequel sits in development hell while
11:28 fans watch the original and remember
11:31 what they've lost. Bonus. Two real gang
11:33 members refuse to leave the shot and
11:35 make it into the final film. During
11:37 Smokeoky's Angel Dust flashback, two
11:39 real gang members sit on a wall in the
11:41 background. They're not extras. They're
11:43 not part of the production. They just
11:45 happen to be there when filming starts.
11:47 The crew asks them to move. They refuse.
11:49 The production offers them money to be
11:51 official extras. They refuse. They
11:53 insist on staying in the shot anyway.
11:55 Production can't remove them without
11:57 causing a scene. F. Gary Gray makes a
11:59 calculation. It's not worth the
12:01 confrontation. He shoots the scene with
12:02 them in frame. They're visible in the
12:04 final film. Two unauthorized people
12:06 sitting on a wall watching a movie get
12:08 made. It's the most South Central thing
12:10 about Friday. You can't control the
12:12 neighborhood. You can only work with it.
12:14 Gray knows this because he grew up
12:16 there. He doesn't try to sanitize the
12:18 location or remove inconvenient reality.
12:20 The gang members stay. The scene works.
12:22 Friday becomes authentic because it
12:24 doesn't try to fake authenticity. Ice
12:26 Cube spends $3.5 million proving Hood
12:28 films can be funny. Chris Tucker goes
12:30 from 2500 bucks to the highest paid
12:32 actor in Hollywood. The film creates
12:34 internet memes, launches careers, and
12:35 captures South Central laughing on a
12:38 Friday afternoon. Three cast members die
12:40 waiting for a sequel that never comes.
12:42 But Friday lives forever because it
12:43 shows a side of the hood Hollywood
12:45 usually ignores. People sitting on
12:47 porches, people talking trash, people
12:49 surviving another day without getting
12:51 shot. That's the real story. And 27
