EXCLUSIVE: Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Nomzamo Mbatha, Rotimi, Luenell, and Teyana Taylor Talk Coming 2 America
Coming 2 America is gearing up to be released this coming Friday, March 5, and the newcomers to the series, Tracy Morgan (Reem Junson), Jermaine Fowler (Lavelle Junson), Nomzamo Mbatha (Mirembe), Rotimi (Idi Izzi), Luenell (Livia), and Teyana Taylor (Bopoto Izz) sat down and chatted about the new movie.
In the chat, the group talked their favorite parts from the movie that started it all, Coming to America, their characters, female empowerment, and so much more. You can check out the interview below.
On their favorite parts from the first movie, Coming to America:
Fowler: “It’s got to be Clarence, all the barbershop scenes. Those are a staple for me. I quote him all the time. Him getting punched in the chest because Martin Luthor King thought he was somebody else. That’s mine.”
Morgan: “My main one is when the mother told King Jaffe Joffer, “Oh, put a sock in it, Javi.”
Taylor: “I loved when he [Prince Akeen] was in the barbershop and he [Clarence] told Prince Akeem, “That wasn’t nothing but Ultra Perm.”
Luenell: “It’s been Randy Watson for me. The confidence of Randy Watson. That boy can sing.”
Rotimi: “I think the most funny part for me was when he was so genuine. He was like, ‘Good morning, my neighbors. Yes. Yes F**k you, too.'”
Morgan: “I’ve got another one. I like little things like when they first arrived in Queens, and they went to get an apartment. The dude peeked out the door. ‘Okay, now what the f**k you want?'”
Fowler on if he thinks his character, Lavelle Junson ended up teaching Prince Akeem something throughout the course of this film:
“Yeah. Inadvertently, he does. What I go through with my situation with Mirembe (Mbatha), he [Akeem] slowly gets reminded about what brought him to Queens and his love for Lisa. All of that comes back to him. This movie is just a reminder of what true love is. Sometimes you’ve got to get bumped in the head a little bit to just remember that.”
You can read the rest of the chat below the jump! Coming 2 America will be released on Amazon Prime Video and in theaters, so make sure to check it out this Friday.
Photo credit: Quantrell D. Colbert
Mbatha on the feeling of female empowerment featured in this movie:
“For me, there’s going to be so many people that are going to witness so many different central themes to this film. There’s the central theme of identity, the search for identity, the search for purpose, the search of leaving everything that you’ve always known behind and going into the new. But one of the most leading, and on the pulse things about this film, is the central theme around the power of the female voice and female empowerment.
That’s what I love about the sequel. The finger is on the pulse. They read the room when they were writing the script. Craig Brewer read the room when he was directing those powerful scenes and gave that agency for women to just have agency on set, for women to just have agency with the roles.”
Mbatha on her character Mirembe and what she is hoping the audience gets from her:
“Mirembe’s witty. She’s smart. She’s sassy. She also brings a lot of grounding, and that’s the thing about comedy that we never give credit to. Comedy, there’s so much drama. There’s so much human connection that we can truly, truly learn. I’m really just excited for everyone, every Brown girl, every little girl around the world to see themselves, to hear themselves through the central theme.”
Taylor on doing more than just acting in this movie?
“It definitely was a lot. The big performance was added on a little bit later, so when I heard I was doing it, I was like, ‘Okay, I’ve got way too many big shoes to fill.’ With that scene it’s also like reenacting the original. So it was kind of like, ‘Damn. I’m going to do that. Oh my God. This is too much.’ But I pulled through.”
Morgan on working with the original cast:
“We had the original cast here to give us the support and the guidance. When we followed the expectations, we got a thumbs-up. They gave us that quiet confidence to let us know we were on the right path.”
Rotimi on learning from the movie’s choreographer, Fatima Robinson:
“It was intimidating. I’m not even going to front. It was cool, because it was a collaborative thing. We had to figure it out really, really quickly. So she had an idea. I had an idea. But she was like, ‘Ultimately, just do what you feel,’ and it just came together so perfectly. When you’re working with the best in anything, man, can just feel that aura and feel the energy. So I trusted what she was saying and it was really dope.
Luenell on the movie and working with Robinson:
“Let me just say that there is not a Black actor, older, middle-aged, or younger in this town or any town that didn’t want to have just a little piece of this movie. Plus, mentioning Fatima, I have to just give a special shout of love out to her, because my daughter did get a chance to audition for her. Fatima is her idol. My daughter is a professional dancer. She got cast in the movie, so my daughter and I have been in our first motion picture together. It don’t get any better than that.”