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Interview: Cedric the Entertainer

Cedric the Entertainer is one funny guy. He has a vibrant sense of humor that's dazzled audiences worldwide. The lemur that he plays in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Maurice, is just as sharp as he is. Cedric talked to us about venturing into animation, his upcoming run on Broadway, Cadillac Records, and much more in this interview.

Do your kids think it's cool you're in the Madagascar movies?

Oh yeah, they're excited about it! They loved the movie. They're excited about seeing the second one. Anytime a kid can say his dad is in a movie it's cool, though. They throw it around and see if they can get it out there. This movie is right there in their pockets. This movie has got some really cool themes and comedic moments that are for adults, too, but it's definitely a family film.

Having kids, do you know what lines or scenes they're going to think are funny?

It's weird! It's hard to tell because kids have really strange senses of humor nowadays, but they usually like the big stuff—scenes where people fall off stuff. Some of them get splattered and squished. There's a lot of good stuff in there. The kids also understand some of the written humor. The kids grow up on so many movies now, from Ratatouille to The Incredibles, and all of these other movies that have smart themes to them and family tales. That allows them to be a little more sophisticated about what it is they really like and what they don't like. It actually surprises me, some of the things they'll laugh at that you thought might've went over their heads. They'll be like, "That's funny!" and you won't expect it.

Is voice acting different from standard acting?

It's similar in a way, but it's a little different because you do have to have a great imagination to do voice acting because you're mainly by yourself. You don't have the opportunity to power-up off of another person's performance or what it is that they're doing that gives you juice and an opportunity to click in. Again, a lot like stand-up comedy, you're on stage alone. You've got to make it happen. You've got to transfer something to this audience so they can get it. So that's why I'd say voice acting is similar to stand-up comedy in a way. When you're in a booth, you've got to go in, and I liken it to if I was an only child; I'd just have to learn how to have fun. The only thing you hear when you're recording is the producer in the other room. He's in a booth saying, "Ah, could you try that again?"

Did you get to improvise a lot for Madagascar?

No, it's difficult with animation because the process to lock the animation to the words is so intense. They've got to send it over to Australia or New Zealand somewhere. Then it comes back. There aren't a lot of opportunities to improvise. If there's something that the filmmakers and producers like that you do, then you can jump off the page a little bit, but you've got to stay within this area. It's not as much as any of us would've loved to do. I'm sure Sacha [Baron Cohen], myself, and Chris Rock all would've loved to be a little more free. The process of doing an animated film is one where you've got to hit your marks, because everything counts on everything else.

What else is coming up for you?

I'm playing Donnie Dubrow in David Mamet's American Buffalo on Broadway alongside Haley Joel Osment. John Leguizamo is Teach. It's so powerful and interesting. Haley Joel Osment is super bright! He kills us every day. He's like the smartest kid we know. He goes to NYU. He's been up there for a couple of years, studying theater at NYU. This dude has knowledge [about] so much stuff he cracks me up. He's really cool in the pocket. He's laid back, but he's a really hard worker and he's really smart.

What's up with Cadillac Records?

I play Willie Dixon, and that was great! Everybody just really captured their roles. Jeffrey Wright does an amazing job as Muddy Waters. Mos Def is Chuck Berry. He killed it. Beyonce [Knowles] is a young Etta James. I had to think about a lot with the way the movie was shot. I had to go play bass. I learned to play the upright. I've got three chords that I can do. It was all about Dixon's writing style and what he thought he could do to add to the sound that they were trying to do at Chess Records at the time. That's really what you get from me in the beginning. I also do the voiceover. I tell the tale of the movie, so Willie narrates the whole film. Willie didn't drink much. He was married to the same woman the whole time. The only thing that really happened was he was one of the first dudes to regain his publishing back, though. Legend has it, he had this real tricky thing that he did. They don't verify it, but he basically made up this mobster-sounding name for his publishing. Everyone thought it was like "Tony Bazzinni," but it was really Willie Dixon. It was just a name he made up. Nobody ever challenged it. He was able to keep his publishing, because he was like, "The publishing belongs to Joey Bazune." [Laughs]

Did you spin a lot of blues records to get in the mood for the part?

With this movie, I listened to a lot of blues songs. I love John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy, of course B.B. King and King Albert. There are a lot of cool songs. Their writing was hilarious. It was always troubling, but some of the stuff they were saying on these records, you're like, "They were getting away with that? Where was the FCC?" [Laughs] It was fun. I was trying to develop this T.V. show where I get to sing the blues on the show because I wanted to make up some of those songs. [Laughs]

Any Bernie Mac memories that you'd like to share?

I have a couple great stories with Bernie. One happened when we were performing in Florida together one night. He was a really tough dude. Those were the early days of my career. I had been traveling, and I had a show in Des Moines, Iowa. I drove to that show. Then I had to drive home so I could catch a plane to Miami. The plane was late, and I had to go to the venue from the airport. I went up, and I bombed. I hadn't bombed in a long time. Bernie was the closing act. I went on before him. I was backstage really down. Bernie came up to me, and he was typical Bernie Mac. He said, "Let them motherfuckers know you're the best! You get your shit together, you come back up here tomorrow and kick their ass!" [Laughs] I was like, "Okay, was that a pep talk? Right on, Coach, thanks!" I did better the next night, though! [Laughs] I sat home, got the paper out and started writing. I went back on next stage and mastered the next night. It was one of those moments that I was really down, and before he went on, he just gave it to me—Bernie Mac-style, though. Tough love! [Laughs]

On The Original Kings of Comedy, during the first tour, I went first. We had a regular non-King that would open and host the show. I was first, then it'd be intermission, then Bernie and Steve. It was rock star comedy. We were doing arenas. [During] the intermission, I would invite all of the celebrities and the girls back to my dressing room. These guys were both married and civil. I was drinking and partying. [Laughs] So I would have all of these people in my room. One time in Oakland, Bernie performed his show, he did a great show and then afterwards I had all of these people in my room and Bernie came in and did another 15 minute set in my dressing room. It was classic. He had everybody laughing. He did his whole Red Fox routine. Then he left the room, and everyone cheered.

—Rick Florino
11.03.08