Ice Cube Turns Barber

09/12/2002 5:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Jerry Armor

(9/12/02, 5 p.m. ET) -- In Barbershop, rapper-actor Ice Cube had to show off some fancy moves...with a pair of hair clippers. Cube told LAUNCH about what it took to convince the audience that he really could cut hair on screen in the new comedy.

Cube explained what he added to give some personality to his character's cutting style. "Just small little things, you know? The producers and Tim (Story), the director, they was up on it, man. Everything that I added was character things, and, you know, little things that I saw barbers do that I wanted to do, and it was just all about spreading it out, because I didn't want to use all my barber moves in the first scene," he said. "So I wanted to spread 'em out through the movie, so, you know, it all worked out. But they were tight about what they wanted to see."

Even though he pulled off the illusion, don't expect Cube to quit his day job: He only cut one full head of hair during the whole production, and he was nervous about it the entire time.

Barbershop, which also stars Cedric the Entertainer and rapper-turned-actress Eve, opens Friday (September 13).

-- Anna Maria Gibson and Steve Iervolino, New York

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