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What is the 30th anniversary ofWhite Men Cant Jump?
That trio has come a long way from those courts in Venice Beach.
The fast-talking Sidney Deane (Snipes) is desperate to get his young family out of his crime-ridden neighborhood.
After hearing someone discussing their friendsJeopardyaspirations, he had his solution and it proved to be Kismet.
Her audition more than impressed Shelton: You cant invent that, herecalledin 2017 of watching her.
Girlfriends and wives in sports movies are too often positioned as either obstacles or support mechanisms.
(If anything, our biggest concern is whether Billy will get his shit together for her.)
I dont give a shit about that.
I remember the first time it happened, I went, Are you serious?
The guy started laughing, and I go, Thats not even funny.
What are you doing?
[Laughs] Hes like, Oh, well, I thought it was …
I went, No, no, no.
Dont ever do that to another actress ever again.
The first day with Woody, the chemistry was immediate.
The image that also comes to my mind is being in the car with the two fellas.
I dont even know how we filmed it, because we couldnt stop cracking up at every little thing.
To date, its the movie that Ive had the most fun on.
Even during our lunch hour, we still wanted to hang with each other.
All the girls were, of course, fawning over both Woody and Wesley.
And one of the girls said, Who do you think is cuter?
You know, Im in character, so Im going to say Woody, right?
Woody goes, Oh, you think Im cuter than Wesley?
And the other girls go, You think Woodys cuter than Wesley?
You must be bugging.
It did not mean he wasnt attractive, because Wesley is completely attractive.
What does Woody do?
Well, you dont do it for me either, so I guess were even!
And we all just cracked up.
On a regular movie set, that wouldve ruined the day.
It wouldve changed the dynamic of the chemistry and everything.
But it didnt at all.
And that was our first day inside the car.Even in the car we couldnt stop laughing about it.
I said, Woody, youre such a fing idiot, I cant believe you did that.
He goes, What?
I go, I toldyou, I didnt mean for you to tell Wesley.
And he goes, Oh, well, you should have said something.
I go, Thats understood, and Wesleys like, Yall got drama!
[Laughs] He was just cracking up.
It was too much fun.
There was some fun that I cant even repeat; fun we had that I will never tell.
But Ron, like I said, there were days that he was not having us at all.
Going back to the beginning, Ron originally wrote Gloria as a white, upper-class southern woman.
I go, Which part isnt for a white girl?!
Tell me something new, just.
My agents were like, What?
Im supposed to be onJeopardy!
They were looking at me like I was insane.
When I spoke to Ronin 2017, he remembered watching you and thinking, You cant invent that.
I went in and Ron says, How you doing?
and I go, Im having a bad hair day.
And he said, What did you say?
I said, Im having a really bad hair day.
This is not how Im supposed to look.
I looked so much better, so just act like youre seeing something else.
He went, Okay, hang on a minute.
He comes back and we run some lines, and then he leaves the room again.
This time he brings in Woody.
And I saw Woody, Woody saw me, and we were like, Yo!
And that was it.
After the audition, I went in my car and I just screamed, Yeah!
I just knew it.
My agents said, How was the audition?
And I go, Sloppy as hell.
[Laughs] But I said to them, Its mine.
I told you, this is mine.
Theyre like, Well, just prepare yourself, because they dont want a Puerto Rican.
I said, Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.
I knew the chemistry that I had with Ron, the chemistry that I had with Woody.
Ron told me that I had gotten it even before I left the room because of one line.
It was when I told Woody, You got hustled.
In the end, Gloria became, like you, a former disco queen from Brooklyn.
Once you came onboard, were there any other changes?
If so, what were those conversations like with Ron?None of the dialogue changed.
The only thing that was changed was where the character was from.
And then Ron and I had the famous fight about the dress forJeopardy.
Wardrobe goes, This is the dress youre wearing, and I go, Im not wearing that.
Thats the ugliest dress.
Ron came in, and he said, You have to wear this dress.
I said, I am not wearing that hoochie mama dress.
He goes, What did you say?
I said, Thats a hoochie mama dress.
And he goes, Whats a hoochie mama?
I said, You dont know what a freaking hoochie mama is?
He goes, No.
I said, Its just a ho.
And he fell out laughing.
I said, Im not being funny, Ron.
I cant wear this dress.
He goes, Now you have to wear the dress.
You didnt buy it, Billy bought it.
So, of course, hes going to buy you a hoochie mama dress.
And I said, Oh, God.
I was so mad.
I couldnt stop laughing.
And thats why I delivered it with such anger, because it was so funny.
I told him, Gosh darn it, you were right.
None of their arguments feel contrived just for story or conflict purposes.
The fact that she finds the strength to leave the love of her life is huge.
And even as a young person, I understood the magnitude of that.
I cant stand it when actresses do that.
Like, when they cry, they have to cry pretty.
Or when they want to be serious, they have to whisper.
Who the fuck whispers?
Who does that in real life?
Especially with your man.
And so I wanted that intensity.
In your mind, was that truly it for them?
Gloria would go on and become extremely successful, and maybe Billy wouldve gotten it together, or not.
Its friendship, companionship, compatibility, being able to make each other laugh.
You mentioned that being onJeopardywas a dream of yours.
And I was even more nervous and uncomfortable because I was in the hoochie mama dress!
I kept asking the guy, How do I hold the button?
What do I do?
And theyre like, Youre going to be fine.
I took a deep breath, and then out comes Alex Trebek.
And that did it.
And thats the famous faux pas, where instead of saying Mount Vesuvius, I said Mount Suvius.
I froze because I knew I said it wrong and nobodys yelling cut!
And Alex Trebek goes, Let me check with the judges.
The judges said okay.
He did that on his own.
If you see my smile afterwards, I was like, Yes!
Im such a cornball.
Im a determined person, Im a nerdy person, and Im so corny.
The littlest thing could make me happy.
And the other special scene was saying good-bye to Billy, because I really cried that day.
Thats fine, its just business.
You learn how to protect your feelings and put your big-girl pants on.
And I thought that was what was going to happen.
Im not going to call him, Im not going to bother him.
Im not going to call or bother Wesley either.
But this is really heartbreaking.
I cried at the wrap party.
Oh my God, I was a wreck.
Wesley and I are going to go hang out and have dinner, do you want to come?
I was like, What?
I couldnt believe it.
You know that you are because most people dont feel like that.
And even the ones that do dont admit it.
You are like corn on the cob.
[Laughs] And I was like, I got it, thanks.
What do you anticipate that being like?
Maybe some happy tears this time around?Its going to be tremendous.
Its going to be special, I know that for a fact.
And its going to be fun because we always have fun when we all get together.
To my surprise, most people are so angry about it.
Theyre like, You shouldnt mess with a classic!
And Im like, People, relax, its just a movie.
I hope it does well.
I dont understand people getting so upset about it.
Why would somebody want something to do poorly?
It just doesnt make any sense to me.
There are tons of remakes.
Some work, some dont.
At least give it a shot.
Whether the remake is good or not, it will never affect what the three of us did.
It will never affect what Ron Shelton wrote and directed.
No one will be able to touch that; its in film forever.
I am so humbled and honored to say its an American classic.
I hope that magic is re-created.
If not, you still have the original!
We dont know much about the film yet, just that Jack Harlow has been cast.
Okay, cool, you knowwhats poppin.
Lets say were getting new versions of our beloved characters.
Would you have a dream casting for Gloria?I wouldnt touch that with a ten-foot pole.
I say to the casting directors, good luck.
I could have played it safe, played it as it was originally intended to be.
I just didnt buy it.
And thats the character that I played.
I didnt play me, like everyone thinks.
I am way too sensitive.
I am way too corny, as Wesley loved to call me.
I wouldnt have put up with all of that.
What if were staying in the same universe and they come your way to reprise Gloria?
So never say never, and lets see what happens.
