… he says. “It’s real cool because there’s no limits. Nothing I can’t talk about.”
Well, except cursing. One of Tucker’s early influences was Robin Harris, best known for his role as Sweet Dick Willie in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. Then there were Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. They all made their mark on Tucker early, but unlike those notoriously blue comics, Tucker tries to keep it clean these days.
In the old days, he used to be more liberal in his language. “I never was a raunchy, raunchy comic but I didn’t think about what I was saying because I was young,” he says. “Being a Christian helps me in comedy. I have to talk about other stuff. Normally, most comics talk about stuff that’s easy—maybe cussing or saying something raunchy. I have to dig deeper to find something that’s still funny and not raunchy. It’s harder. I like the challenge.”
It not only appeals to his personal sense of morality, he feels that being clean also sets him apart. “Everybody’s doing raunchy comedy,” Tucker says. “I go to comedy clubs and it’s like, ‘All right, how raunchy can you get?’ And it’s really not that funny to me. What’s funny to me is being creative and talking about stuff that I wouldn’t have thought about.”
According to a YouTube documentary on Comedy Hype’s channel, Tucker received a major pay increase for the film’s second installment, getting paid $20 million – making him the highest-paid actor-comedian at that time. Going into Rush Hour 3, he earned $25 million and an additional percentage from the box office revenue.
Tucker has been relatively absent from the film industry, but Comedy Hype reveals that it’s not due to him not being vetted and sent scripts. Instead, he’s become extremely selective with what he lends his name and talent to as a result of his re-dedication to his religion.
In between Friday and the Rush Hour franchise, Tucker reportedly became a born-again Christian. In the documentary, comedy analyst Rex Garvin explains that Tucker turned down dozens of roles that he felt did not align with his religious beliefs.