Everett Chris Tucker as Smokey and Ice Cube as Craig Jones in ‘Friday’Friday is 30 years old? Daaaaaamn!No, we’re not talking about the weekday or Rebecca Black’s viral anthem. We’re talking about F. Gary Gray’s iconic stoner comedy, starring N.W.A. rapper Ice Cube and a then-unknown Chris Tucker as two unemployed homies stirring up trouble around their South Central Los Angeles neighborhood.Since hitting theaters on April 26, 1995, Friday has amassed a massive cult following, with its quotable one-liners (“Bye, Felisha!”) and the leading men’s memorable facial expressions earning it a permanent spot in the internet meme lexicon. Two sequels followed in 2000 and 2002, and a fourth and final movie (titled Last Friday) is officially on the way.“We’re working on it. We finally got some traction with Warner Bros.,” Cube, who is set to star and write, said during a June 2024 interview with Flavor Flav’s Flavor of the Week on SiriusXM. “But the key is, it’s gotta be done right, Flav, or we shouldn’t f— with it.”As we buckle up for the fourth Friday (and watch out for Deebo), let’s catch up with the franchise’s original stars, 30 years later.Ice Cube (Craig Jones)New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett; Paras Griffin/Getty Ice Cube as Craig Jones in ‘Friday’; Ice Cube attends the Monster Energy BIG3 Celebrity Basketball Game at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Aug. 21, 2022O’Shea Jackson Sr., a.k.a. Ice Cube, was already well-known as the lead rapper of N.W.A. before he decided to try acting and made his film debut in Boyz N the Hood (1991). That performance laid the groundwork for him to star in, co-write, and produce Friday, where he plays Craig Jones — a cranky, unemployed guy living with his parents while dreaming of something better for himself and his neighborhood.As one of the film’s writers and stars, Cube found inspiration in funny Hollywood throwbacks such as 1975’s Let’s Do It Again, telling EW in 2010, “The tone of the Friday movies came from this — it’s an upbeat reality where the comedy’s not over-the-top but is found in the situation.”Since then, the multihyphenate has made his directorial debut with The Players Club (1998) and helped turn Friday into a major franchise with two additional sequels, as well as the upcoming fourth and final film. Cube continued acting in the Barbershop movies (2002, 2004, 2016), 21 Jump Street (2012) and its 2014 sequel, Ride Along (2014), Ride Along 2 (2016), and The High Note (2020), among other films. While the rapper has continued his music career, he’s also made additional strides as a producer — notably working on the 2015 N.W.A. biopic, Straight Outta Compton, in which his oldest son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., portrayed him.Cube shares four children with his longtime wife, Kimberly Woodruff.Chris Tucker (Smokey)New Line Cinema/Everett; Paras Griffin/Getty Chris Tucker as Smokey in ‘Friday’; Chris Tucker attends the NBA All-Star Weekend at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Feb. 17, 2023Chris Tucker began his career as a comedian, first gaining popularity for his frequent appearances on Def Comedy Jam, and eventually made his Hollywood debut with the film House Party 3 in 1994. One year later, he starred in Friday as the aptly-named Smokey — a more cheerful (and stoned) counterpoint to Ice Cube’s sour character — which opened countless more doors for him in Hollywood.Despite the success it brought him, Tucker later passed on reprising the role in the sequels (reportedly on religious grounds as a devout Christian). “One of the reasons why I didn’t do the second one was because of the weed,” he told All Urban Central in 2021. “I don’t wanna represent everybody smoking weed.” (That said, the actor maintains he’d still consider returning for a potential fourth movie.)Passing on playing Smokey again didn’t restrict Tucker’s career, as many offers for other projects kept coming. In 1997 alone, he appeared in Money Talks, The Fifth Element, and Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. The following year, he starred opposite Jackie Chan in Rush Hour (1998), which quickly became a successful franchise. He later returned for both Rush Hour 2 (2001) and Rush Hour 3 (2007) and is now looking forward to filming Rush Hour 4. In the meantime, the star has notably acted in Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and the Nike biodrama Air (2023).In 1997, Tucker married Azja Pryor, with whom he shares two sons. The couple later divorced in 2003.Tommy Lister Jr. (Deebo)New Line Cinema; Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Tom Lister Jr. as Deebo in ‘Friday’; Tom Lister Jr. attends the NYC premiere of ‘Sister’ during the 2014 Tribeca Film FestivalAs a one-time professional wrestler, the late Tommy Lister Jr. notably starred in the WWF movie No Holds Barred (1989) before pivoting to work as a character actor. Thanks to his formidable build, Lister Jr. almost always portrayed bad guys, and in Friday, he played neighborhood bully Deebo.When scouting for Friday, casting director Jaki Brown needed to find somebody who looked powerful and daunting. “Ninety-eight percent of the people we saw for Deebo were football players, really gigantic football players,” she told Grantland in 2014. “They all thought they were actors, but none of them could do it.” Once they began to consider wrestlers, it only took one look at Lister Jr. for Brown to think, “‘Wow, he’d be perfect.'”Though the actor’s Hollywood career had been sporadic, it remains memorable. He soon appeared in The Fifth Element and Jackie Brown, both of which reunited him with Friday costar Chris Tucker. He later reprised the role of Deebo in the 2000 sequel Next Friday (but not the third film, Friday After Next). On the small screen, he also appeared in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.Lister Jr. married his sweetheart, entrepreneur Felicia Forbes, in 2003, and they had one child together.The actor died of cardiovascular disease in 2020 at age 62. In memoriam, his frequent collaborator, Ice Cube, wrote on X, “America’s favorite bully was a born entertainer who would pop into character at the drop of a hat terrifying people on and off camera. Followed by a big smile and laugh. Thank you for being a good dude at heart. I miss you already.”Nia Long (Debbie)New Line Cinema/Everett; Jon Kopaloff/Getty Nia Long as Debbie in ‘Friday’; Nia Long attends the L.A. premiere of Crunchyroll’s ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — To the Swordsmith Village’ on Feb. 18, 2023Friday was far from Nia Long’s industry debut. She got her start as a child actor on shows like Guiding Light and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the latter of which saw her play the fiancée of Will Smith’s character. The young star soon shared her film debut with Ice Cube through Boyz N the Hood before she was cast in Friday as Debbie, Craig’s fiery neighbor and love interest.While filming Friday, the actress made what she would later call her first major “grown-up” purchase: a BMW that inspired envy from her costar. “Chris Tucker and I saw each other on the freeway, on the way to the set… He had a busted window with a pizza box over it because he couldn’t afford to fix the window!” Long told A.V. Club in 2014. “We get to work, and he goes, ‘When I grow up, I want to be just like you.'”Long went on to star in Made in America (1993), Soul Food (1997), The Best Man (1999), Big Momma’s House (2000), Boiler Room (2000), and The Best Man Holiday (2013). She also continued to work on the small screen for shows like Third Watch, Boston Legal, and Empire. Her more recent credits include The Best Man: The Final Chapters, Missing (2023), and You People (2023), and she’s set to portray Katherine Jackson in the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic.Off screen, Long and her ex-partner, former NBA player and current coach Ime Udoka, share two children. The couple broke up in December 2022 after 13 years together.Regina King (Dana Jones)New Line Cinema; Daniele Venturelli/Getty Regina King as Dana Jones in ‘Friday’; Regina King attends the Filming Italy red carpet in Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy, on June 10, 2022Regina King was one of the more established names at the time of Friday’s release. By 1995, she had already starred on the sitcom 227 for several years and appeared in Boyz N the Hood with many of her future costars. This gave her plenty of time to bond with Ice Cube before playing Dana Jones, the rapper’s onscreen sister with whom he shares a playful sibling rivalry.”I got to know Cube in between scenes on the set of Boyz N the Hood. Regardless of how you saw him in… outside of that serious role, he laughed and cracked and bagged and did all those things that everyone else was doing their early 20s,” she told Complex in a now-deleted oral history of the film in 2015. “He definitely has a comedic side.… He definitely has his timing right. It felt natural to be there with him.”After the success of Friday, King’s star continued to soar with more film projects, including Jerry Maguire (1996), How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), and Ray (2004), among others. On TV, she lent her voice to the hilarious cartoon The Boondocks; starred on The Leftovers; and brought home four Emmys for her work on American Crime, Seven Seconds, and Watchmen. Apart from her Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning performance in If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), she’s also booked parts in movies like The Harder They Fall (2021), Shirley (2024), and Darren Aronofsky’s upcoming Caught Stealing (2025).While King’s career has been fruitful, she’s also experienced tragedy in her personal life. The actress’ only child — a son from her marriage to Ian Alexander — died by suicide at age 26 in 2022.John Witherspoon (Willie Jones)New Line Cinema/Everett; Gilbert Carrasquillo/GC Images John Witherspoon as Willie Jones in ‘Friday’; John Witherspoon arrives at FOX 29 Studios in Philadelphia on May 24, 2019Friday saw the late John Witherspoon play Willie Jones, Ice Cube’s dad and the kind of strict patriarch that many of us are all too familiar with.Witherspoon’s journey through the entertainment industry took him down many roads: He had previously been a model and a stand-up comedian, which naturally led to television appearances on The Incredible Hulk, WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and in the main cast of The Wayans Bros. Before Friday, he also enjoyed roles in movies like I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), House Party (1990), and Boomerang (1992).Unfortunately, his experience working on Friday wasn’t entirely positive. Witherspoon would later tell Vlad TV that he and the other stars allegedly “got paid $5,000 apiece to do that movie” and received no additional compensation after it went on to earn nearly $300 million. This comment made him part of the ongoing campaign for actors’ pay to better represent the success of their projects.After Friday, Witherspoon appeared in several films, such as the franchise’s two sequels, Little Nicky (2000), Dr. Dolittle 2 (2001), Soul Plane (2004), and many more. He also did voice work on animated series like The Boondocks (reuniting him with Friday costar Regina King), Black Dynamite, and BoJack Horseman.As for his personal life, Witherspoon married actress Angela Robinson in 1988 and had two children. Sadly, the actor died in 2019 from a heart attack at age 77.Faizon Love (Big Worm)New Line Cinema/Everett; Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Faizon Love as Big Worm in ‘Friday’; Faizon Love performs at the Ice House Comedy Club in Pasadena on May 6, 2023Friday put Faizon Love on the map. Before then, he was mostly known as a comedian, with appearances on An Evening at the Improv and Def Comedy Jam and a few bit parts in a couple of live-action movies. But Friday pushed his career forward with the role of Big Worm, a drug dealer who is just as ruthless as he is connected.But the real-life Love wasn’t quite as connected then as he is now, given that he reportedly only received $2,500 (the scale rate at the time) for the film. Amid fans directing their ire toward Ice Cube, Love defended his costar in an Instagram caption, writing, “What I got paid is a moot point, it was the price of admission to a game. I have zero regrets.”Though he sat out the Friday sequels, Love went on to appear in Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996), Money Talks (1997) alongside Chris Tucker, The Replacements (2000), Elf (2003), and Just My Luck (2006). He’s continued to flex his comedy chops in episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, My Name Is Earl, Black-ish, and The Upshaws. Gamers may also recognize him as the voice of Sean “Sweet” Johnson in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.In February 2025, Love was accused of assault by a San Diego hotel employee, who alleged the actor threw a credit card reader at her head. He pleaded not guilty and faces a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted, reported NBC 7 San Diego.Paula Jai Parker (Joi)New Line Cinema; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Paula Jai Parker as Joi in ‘Friday’; Paula Jai Parker attends New York Magazine’s ‘Vulture’ Festival in L.A. on Nov. 13, 2022Paula Jai Parker made her film debut in Friday playing Joi, Ice Cube’s character’s abusive girlfriend. Though she was convincing on screen as the kind of character audiences love to hate, on set, she was the kind of actor everyone loves. That’s largely because she took control of many aspects of her character.For example, Parker later told Page Six in 2020 that she and the movie’s on-set stylist (who was relatively inexperienced and could only do braids) “came up with the look for Joi” together. But given that the young actor had double-booked herself in Friday and Tales From the Hood, this resulted in her having to take her braids in and out for months while filming both at the same time.The success of Friday helped really juice Parker’s career, leading to roles in movies like Sprung (1997), High Crimes (2002), Phone Booth (2002), and the SAG Award-nominated Hustle & Flow (2005). As for television, she’s starred on The Wayans Bros. (with Friday costar John Witherspoon) and Ray Donovan. The actress has also notably voiced matriarch Trudy Proud in Disney’s The Proud Family and its sequel series.Along the way, she found time for love: Parker married actor Forrest Martin (whom she met on the set of Hustle & Flow) in 2004. The couple has one child together.Meagan Good (Kid #2)New Line Cinema; Amanda Edwards/FilmMagic Meagan Good as Kid #2 in ‘Friday’; Meagan Good attends the L.A. premiere of ‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ on March 14, 2023Meagan Good may have played a minor role in Friday as Kid #2, but she’s gone on to have a major acting and modeling career. But she might have never snagged a spot in her feature film debut at just 13 years old if she hadn’t let loose during the casting process.“I remember this audition. I was 13 and did it in front of F. Gary Gray [the director]. He was like, ‘I love this kid.’ So I ended up getting it, and it was my first speaking role in a movie,” she told Elle in February 2023. “It was an incredible experience.”After Friday, Good went on to appear in the films Eve’s Bayou (1997), Deliver Us From Eva (2003), Stomp the Yard (2007), The Unborn (2009), Think Like a Man (2012), Shazam! (2019) and its 2023 sequel, and Divorce in the Black (2024), among other titles. On TV, she starred on Cousin Skeeter from 1998 to 2001 and Harlem from 2021 to 2025.After divorcing her husband of 10 years, film producer and author DeVon Franklin, in 2022, she married actor Jonathan Majors in 2025, following two years of dating.DJ Pooh (Red)New Line Cinema; Todd Williamson/Getty DJ Pooh as Red in ‘Friday’; DJ Pooh attends the world premiere of ‘Grow House’ in L.A. on April 17, 2017Though also an actor, DJ Pooh’s career is more focused on music as a rapper and record producer. He’s also worked closely with Ice Cube as a co-writer on many projects like Boyz N the Hood and Friday, the latter of which sees him play a neighbor whose bike is stolen by neighborhood bully Deebo.According to DJ Pooh, the collaborative writing process with Ice Cube was quite natural, with their shared background inspiring much of the film’s characters. “Me and Cube grew up around the same neighborhood, so we knew a lot of the same people,” he told Complex in 2015. “We started thinking about people we knew, what was going on, stuff that happened in our lives growing up, and just laughing and clowning about a bunch of different scenarios. Every hood has a Deebo or a Felisha.”In terms of acting, DJ Pooh hasn’t appeared in many films outside of the first Friday movie (although he was a writer for the sequels). His other acting credits include 3 Strikes (2000), The Boondocks, and Freaknik: The Musical. Additionally, DJ Pooh wrote, directed, and appeared in the 2001 film The Wash.Along with producing music for legends like King Tee, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Tupac, and LL Cool J, the veteran writer is currently working on Last Friday with Cube.Bernie Mac (Pastor Clever)New Line Cinema/Everett; Paul Drinkwater/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images Bernie Mac as Pastor Clever in ‘Friday’; Bernie Mac during an interview on ‘The Tonight Show With Jay Leno’ on June 6, 2007These days, we remember Bernie Mac as an outsized screen presence with an amazing entertainment legacy. Prior to Friday, he was an up-and-coming Chicago comedian who appeared on Def Comedy Jam and had minor parts in movies like Mo’ Money (1992) and House Party 3. However, his career got a serious boost when he starred in Friday as Pastor Clever, a hilariously hypocritical Baptist preacher who is often the butt of jokes from Craig and Smokey.One of Mac’s costars, the late A.J. Johnson, remembered his enduring sense of humor fondly. “When those cameras went off, Bernie stayed on,” Johnson told Complex in 2015. “[He] had everybody laughing on that set. Singing, cracking jokes, running around playing with people. He was incredible. Anything he said came out funny.”Producers and audiences alike agree with that sentiment, and it wasn’t long before he appeared in more major films, beginning with his first starring role in Ice Cube’s The Players Club (1998). He continued his hot streak with The Original Kings of Comedy (2000), Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Bad Santa (2003), Guess Who (2005), and Transformers (2007). Mac was also a staple of the small screen, especially with the success of his long-running series, The Bernie Mac Show.Mac married movie producer Rhonda McCullough in 1977, and they had one child together. The actor sadly died in 2008 at age 50.Michael Clarke Duncan (Craps player)New Line Cinema/Everett; Kevin Winter/Getty Michael Clarke Duncan as a craps player in ‘Friday’; Michael Clarke Duncan attends a star-studded party hosted by 20th Century Fox Television Distribution at the Fox Lot in L.A. on May 26, 2011Michael Clarke Duncan’s appearance in Friday was so minor that he’s not even credited. But it’s certainly easy enough to spot his iconic frame while his character is playing craps. At the time, the actor was completely unknown, with this movie marking his feature film debut.Despite his lack of industry experience at the time, Duncan still had some valuable wisdom for one of his younger costars. In a 2023 interview with The Root, Meagan Good recalled bringing sandwiches for her fellow cast members. When she didn’t have one for him (because he didn’t specifically ask), Duncan told her, “Everybody on set, you treat exactly the same, no matter what their job is, no matter what they’re doing.”Through both his acting skills and his humility, Duncan soon took Hollywood by storm. A few years later, he netted Oscar, SAG Award, and Golden Globe nominations for his iconic role as sensitive soul John Coffey in The Green Mile (1999). He also appeared in Armageddon (1998), The Whole Nine Yards (2000), Daredevil (2003), Sin City (2005), Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006), and Green Lantern (2011).In 2012, Duncan died of a heart attack at age 54.Anna Maria Horsford (Betty Jones)New Line/Everett; David Livingston/FilmMagic Anna Maria Horsford as Betty Jones in ‘Friday’; Anna Maria Horsford attends the 2022 Governors Awards at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in HollywoodIn Friday, Anna Maria Horsford plays Ice Cube’s character’s mother. She came to the film with a fair amount of experience under her belt, including past roles in films like St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) and Presumed Innocent (1990). As for television, she had also been a regular cast member on Guiding Light and Amen.”Being able to document the Black middle class was really a delight,” Horsford told Complex in 2015. “In most of the movies that were being done, they didn’t have families. That’s one of the reasons why this one was so welcoming, not just in the Black community, but in every community — you saw the characters as whole people.”Immediately after the film, she starred on The Wayans Bros. seasons 2 through 5. She later appeared in movies such as Kiss the Girls (1997), Friday After Next, and Minority Report (2002), among other titles. Horsford was a series regular on The Bold and the Beautiful from 2015 to 2018 — earning her two Daytime Emmy Award nominations — and starred on The Guardians of Justice (Will Save You!) and No Good Deed.Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
