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At one time, Decatur-born Chris Tucker was the highest paid actor in all of Hollywood, taking home $25 million for his role in Rush Hour 3. These days, however, he’s pretty selective about projects — and his waiting fans can catch his newest film, Air, premiering in theaters this week and coming soon on Prime Video.
Air is the story of how shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) led his Nike team to a partnership with basketball legend Michael Jordan that changed the sporting world via the Air Jordan sneaker. Directed by Ben Affleck (who appears as Phil Knight), the crowd-pleasing film also stars Jason Bateman, Chris Messina, Marlon Wayans and Viola Davis. Tucker plays Nike executive Howard White, with whom he has been friends for many years.
In the early stages of the project, Jordan had two requests — he wanted Davis to play his mother, and he also said there was no movie without White as a character. When Affleck approached Tucker about being in the movie, White wasn’t much of a role, and the two agreed to beef up the part. Knowing White so well, Tucker was able to write his own lines for the film.
White, who played college basketball at Maryland and was drafted into the NBA, became an executive at Nike in 1978 after leaving the sport after knee injuries. “He was the bridge from Nike to Michael [Jordan],” says Tucker. “Michael became an icon, and Nike wanted to keep him on the roster. Howard was always loyal — Michael and Nike could trust him. Howard had to be the voice of reason. I think that is what these kids need today, that older statesmen saying to them to think about this before you do it. Howard kept a lot of young men on the right path.”
Although he knew White, Tucker insisted on talking to people from his past to enhance his performance, especially from White’s childhood. That included high school coaches and friends. “I learned everything I could about him.”
Using a basketball phrase, the actor calls Affleck — whose Argo won a 2012 Best Picture Academy Award — the player coach, especially since he has acted for several decades and has now become a director. “He understands the mind of an actor, and he talks the actor’s talk and gives them room to create. He would not hire us unless he thought we knew what we were doing. Matt [Damon] is the same way. He and Ben came to my trailer one day and said, ‘This is like friends making a movie. Let’s have fun and if it’s not working, we will figure it out.’”
Tucker is used to having to adapt. He comes from the standup comedy world, and when there were times that certain jokes did not work, he would pivot and find another way to get the crowd on his side.
The Michael Jordan mystique is one that is present throughout Air, although the character is never directly shown. Tucker remembers meeting the basketball great in 1997 when he was conducting camps for kids. His son Destin was 6, and Tucker put him in the camp just so he could see Michael. “One time he rode in my car, and I said I’d never sell [it] again,” Tucker recalls.
That mystique is about winning — as part of the Chicago Bulls, Jordan took home six NBA Championships — and overcoming adversity. “He had to overcome the [Detroit] Pistons, the [Los Angeles] Lakers, the [Boston] Celtics. He lost a lot up until the ‘90s and had to work out and get bigger. The way he played made you feel good. He jumped up in the air, almost like he was flying. Kids wanted to be like him. [The mystique] is also the fashion — winning and looking good doing it.”
Tucker attended Columbia High School and got his professional start in Atlanta comedy clubs until he moved to Los Angeles in 1992, appearing often on HBO’s Def Comedy Jam. He got his start in film acting with roles such as House Party 3, Friday, Dead Presidents, The Fifth Element and Jackie Brown before 1998’s martial arts comedy Rush Hour with Jackie Chan made him a star. He returned for two sequels in 2001 and 2007. After that, though, he has been seen in only two films prior to Air — 2012’s Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook and 2016’s Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime. However, Rush Hour 4 is in the development phase now.
With his family in the area, though, Tucker returns quite often. He is amazed at how Atlanta has transformed into a filming hub. “It was music when I was growing up, as well as the hip-hop and R&B community. I never thought there would be studios and people making movies all over town. It’s such a blessing.”
One element of Air that made Tucker extremely happy was getting a chance to work with son Destin, now an actor, director and writer in the film business. “That was the greatest Father’s Day gift ever.”
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Jim Farmer covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival. He lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig, and dog, Douglas.
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