arts & entertainment
Cuba Gooding, Jr., The ‘red Tails’ Interview
Oscar-Winner opines on playing Tuskegee airman
C eleBriTY
i nTervieW
by Kam
Williams
C
uba Gooding, Jr. was born in the
Bronx, New York on January 2,
1968, to Shirley and Cuba, Sr., the
lead singer of the R&B group The Main
Ingredient But after his deadbeat dad aban-
doned the family in 1974, Jr. and his sib-
lings were raised in L.A. by his struggling
single-mom. He ended up attending four
different high schools, but was still popular
enough to be voted class president at three
of them.
Cuba’s showbiz career began in 1984 as a
breakdancer during the closing ceremonies
of the Summer Olympics. He subsequently
landed several bit roles on TV and in
movies before enjoying a meteoric rise after
his spellbinding performance as Tre in Boyz
n the Hood.
In 1997, he won an Academy Award for
his memorable outing as Rod “Show me the
money!” Tidwell in Jerry Maguire, and was
named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People
in the World by People Magazine the same
year. He has also earned two NAACP Image
Awards (for Radio and Gifted Hands), a
Screen Actors Guild Award (for Jerry
Maguire), and he even has his own star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
A born-again Christian since the age of
13, Cuba married his childhood sweetheart,
Sara Kapfer, whom he started dating in high
school. They have three kids, Spencer,
Mason and Piper. Here, he talks about his
latest outing as Major Emanuelle Stance in
Red Tails, a World War II epoch about the
legendary Tuskegee Airmen.
kam Williams: Hi Cuba, thanks for the
interview.
CG: Anytime, brother, how are you?
kW: Just fine. How’re things with you?
CG: I’m good. It’s easy when you’re talk-
ing about a movie you’re passionate about.
kW: What made you so passionate about
Red Tails?
CG: Well, I had first heard this story of
the Tuskegee Airmen back in 1992 when I
did that HBO movie. At the time, I was a
young man just finishing his education, and
it frustrated me that I hadn’t learned any-
thing about these African-American pilots
who had escorted bombers during World
War II. It was one of those things where I
was going, “What the hell! Why didn’t I
already know this?” So, to tackle that sub-
ject-matter for HBO was monumental in my
life. Of course, I moved on in my career and
did other things, but when I heard that
George Lucas was going to make a block-
buster about the Tuskegee Airmen, I was all
over it. How often do we in Hollywood get
an opportunity to tell a black tale on a scale
like this, an action adventure? I knew it was
going to be visually stunning, so, I told him,
“Hey, I have to be involved even just to
coach the actors or if l have to do Kraft
Services.” When I met with [director]
Anthony Hemingway, we just connected. It
was the longest dinner, with tears and
everything. He recognized that the passion I
had to be a part of the movie was the same
passion that these men had to do their part
for their country. George even called and
asked me to narrate his new documentary
for the History Channel called “Double
Victory” which chronicles both the
Tuskegee Airmen’s triumphs in the skies
over Europe and the racism they had to deal
with back in the States. So, it’s been a fun
ride, and I’ve been blessed to be involved in
something that not only I’m passionate
about but so is the man financing it.
kW: Larry Greenberg points out that
you’ve played pilots and military men
before, both real-life heroes like Carl
Brashear in Men of Honor and Dorie Miller
in Pearl Harbor, and also fictional charac-
ters in A Few Good Men, Judgement,
Outbreak and other movies. He asks: Is this
something you have a passion for?
CG: I guess so. I used to say, “No, no, I
just got lucky being cast.” But the older I
get, the more I ask myself, “Cube, what’s
See CUBa on page 8
January 18, 2012 The Portland Skanner Page 5