Omar Epps appears on The Crew Has It podcast, where the actor revealed the iconic Juice locker room moment with Tupac was freestyled.
Written ten years before landing in the hands of new actors such as Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur, the cast knew they had to flip the original Juice script. Given the green light by director Ernest Dickerson, Epps and crew substituted their own slang and twist to the outdated script.
“He was just like, ‘You know what needs to be said, just say it the way you would say it.’ So basically me and Pac we freestyled the whole movie, know what I mean?”
Till this day stories about the movie Juice continues to circulate through interviews by those who acted in the film. Shot in New York City, the film released in 1992 was not only the directing debut for Dickerson, but the acting debut for Tupac Shakur and Omar Epps.
Despite many firsts, the movie was a hit and many memorable moments were created. All credit goes to the actors freedom as they filmed. “All of these great moments…Even with Pac, the great locker moment and all that, this is off the top…And that was great because it helped me improve my process in terms of being in the moment,” said Epps.
Many lessons learned during the filming of Juice, as pointed out my Epps during the 24 minute mark of the interview. After a few call backs, Epps and others were asked to meet for dinner. This is when Epps agent contacted him and suggested the Brooklyn native sit next to Tupac. Word was out that Shakur was going to get the lead role for the film and Epps agent hoped the two would hit it off at the dinner. Ultimately, Tupac and Omar organically connected and the rest is history.
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