hip-hop confessions: jazzy jeff & kwame'

[Hypestyle]

http://soundhustle.com/?page=vid.view&vid=1431

..among the tidbits-- Jazzy Jeff alleges that he and Will Smith were up for the original House Party leads.. 

[Reginald Hudlin]

That story is basically true.  The movie was not developed for them - I made the short film it was based on in college, and I wrote the feature on spec.  They lost the lawsuit with New Line, and part of the settlement was them doing a film for them.  So the studio pitched them.

I liked the idea, but only would want to cast them if they wanted to be in the movie.  Working because you lost a lawsuit could lead to a lackluster performance.

I spoke to their manager at the time, Russell Simmons, who told me Jon Peters was developing some movie for them set at summer camp.  It was clear he wasn't taking my little movie seriously.

So I pitched Kid and Play to the studio, who took some convincing but they eventually accepted them.  Will eventually burned off his commitment to New Line by doing that movie based on the play....basically, it's the "Will Smith kisses a man" movie.

HOUSE PARTY did great, and Will went on to be the biggest movie star on the planet.  But what if we had done it together?  Who knows....?

[The Dark Wright]

Would JJ have played Martin's part, the DJ, 'cause if so, you were much better off that they didn't do it.

Besides, HP would've been linked to TFPOBA, which come to think of, might not have been a bad idea at the time.

[moor]

That story is basically true.  The movie was not developed for them - I made the short film it was based on in college, and I wrote the feature on spec.  They lost the lawsuit with New Line, and part of the settlement was them doing a film for them.  So the studio pitched them.

I liked the idea, but only would want to cast them if they wanted to be in the movie.  Working because you lost a lawsuit could lead to a lackluster performance.

I spoke to their manager at the time, Russell Simmons, who told me Jon Peters was developing some movie for them set at summer camp.  It was clear he wasn't taking my little movie seriously.

So I pitched Kid and Play to the studio, who took some convincing but they eventually accepted them.  Will eventually burned off his commitment to New Line by doing that movie based on the play....basically, it's the "Will Smith kisses a man" movie.

HOUSE PARTY did great, and Will went on to be the biggest movie star on the planet.  But what if we had done it together?  Who knows....?

Whoa.  Six Degrees was essentially a clause-filler?  Man - that was one of his best, early roles! You could tell he was an overachiever even then.

[Reginald Hudlin]

Will is a giant talent and a great guy.  He's Tom Hanks in that way....a successful guy you root for.

[TripleX]

I'm having a hard time imagining House Party with anyone other than Kid and Play. That's like "Uptown Saturday Night" starring Richard Roundtree and Flip Wilson. It could still be good, but it seems odd.