18 Weird Facts About New Jack City (1991) You Never Knew

New Jack City: 15 insane behind-the-scenes facts you never knew Martin Lawrence was originally cast as Pooky and destroyed his audition. He stepped away after his mentor Robin Harris died right before production. Chris Rock took over and Van Peebles applauded after his first take. Ice-T was cast as the lead cop after Mario Van Peebles overheard him talking in a nightclub bathroom and walked up to pitch him the role on the spot, no audition. Wesley Snipes wanted to play the cop. Ice-T wanted to play the villain. Van Peebles said no to both. Nino Brown was written specifically for Snipes after the screenwriter saw him in Michael Jackson's "Bad" video and assumed Scorsese had cast a real street guy. Tupac auditioned for G Money but looked too young standing next to Snipes. The Cash Money Brothers were based on the real Chambers brothers, who ran a $3 million a day drug operation out of a Detroit apartment building. The original script was about heroin and Nicky Barnes before Quincy Jones brought in Barry Michael Cooper to rewrite it around crack. That same writer invented the term "New Jack Swing" for a Village Voice article about Teddy Riley before naming this film after it. A budget overrun turned a planned car chase into Chris Rock fleeing on a bicycle, improvised on the spot. For years afterward, real drug dealers thought Pooky was a real person and slipped crack into Chris Rock's pockets as a sign of respect. And the bonus: a sequel was mapped out reuniting Snipes and Ice-T, killed by the "Cop Killer" controversy and Snipes pricing himself out for Demolition Man. ⏱ Timestamps in the chapters below 👇 Comment which fact blew your mind