Perhaps that’s why he leans on stand-up, where he can control the material. He prefers to keep his language clean, which limits his choices for roles. He was raised in a Pentecostal Christian home, and according to Complex, he became born-again in the mid-’90s. “But I’ve got $100 million of great experiences.”Ī post shared by Chris Tucker Tucker Found Christianity (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)Īnother explanation for Tucker’s disappearance is a renewed commitment to his religious faith. “It’s probably about that much,” the comedian confirmed on an episode of the Interrobang comedy podcast. According to a 2015 report in the Washington Post, Rush Hour director Brett Ratner once estimated that Tucker had turned down nearly $100 million worth of projects. A detailed list from Vulture reveals that he turned down parts in Any Given Sunday, Lethal Weapon 4, and Django Unchained. Tucker was also highly selective about his roles. I think I’m a whole other person than when I was a kid doing ‘Def Comedy Jam.’… I love making movies, but I have been working doing my stand-up. I have way more life experiences than I did when I was a teenager. I never stopped doing it I just didn’t focus on it so much. I started as a stand-up and then the movie career took off so fast, I kind of put it on the back burner. In 2017, Tucker explained to AZ Centralthat he was busy with a return to his roots.

So what’s the reason he’s kept such a low profile for the past 14 years? Surely one critical flop wasn’t the sole reason he dropped off the scene. Tucker has only appeared in two movies since then: Silver Linings Playbook and Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk. The film was six years in the making and expectations were high-perhaps that’s why a perfectly decent project was met with tepid reviews. In 2001, the same year Rush Hour 2 was released, Tucker appeared in Michael Jackson’s music video for “You Rock My World.” After that, he was barely seen until the 2007 release of Rush Hour 3. Why Chris Tucker Suddenly Stopped Making Movies (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) Tucker was on top of the world, which is why what happened after that had some people scratching their heads. He commanded $20 and $25 million paydays for Rush Hour 2 and 3, respectively, making him the highest-paid actor of 2006. The unexpected success of the buddy cop comedy, which earned over $240 million at the box office, was a boon for Tucker. In 1998, he co-starred with Jackie Chan in Rush Hour. He continued his climb to A-list status in 1997 with roles in The Fifth Element and Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. His role as Smokey earned him three MTV Movie Awards nominations: Best Comedic Performance, Best Breakthrough Performance, and Best On-Screen Duo. But in 1995, he took his career to the next level when he starred in Ice Cube’s comedy Friday. Tucker’s stand-up career earned him small spots in House Party 3 and various music videos for Dr. His success on the series made him a contemporary of legends like Bernie Mac and Cedric The Entertainer. At 19, he moved to Los Angeles, and by 1992 he was a regular on Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam. Chris Tucker Was A Hit Movie Star in the ’90s and Early ’00s (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)Ĭhris Tucker began his career as a stand-up comic as a teen in his native Atlanta.

Find out where Chris Tucker has been and why he all but disappeared from show business. It’s a peculiar move for a man who was once the highest-paid actor in Hollywood. But since 2010, he’s appeared in all of two films. Whatever happened to Chris Tucker? From his breakout role in Friday to his iconic part in the wildly successful Rush Hour franchise, Tucker was a superstar in the ’90s and aughts.

Jackie chan and chris tucker