Ice Cube

Ice Cube has built a screen career around a presence that can be stern, confrontational or sharply funny—sometimes within the same performance. Born O’Shea Jackson in Los Angeles on June 15, 1969, he began writing raps in ninth grade and entered film after establishing himself as N.W.A’s lead rapper and main ghostwriter on Straight Outta Compton, followed by a successful solo music career. His acting debut came in John Singleton’s Boyz n the Hood in 1991. As Doughboy, Cube brought the directness of his music to a dramatic role, establishing a screen persona that filmmakers could use in thrillers, action pictures and comedies. He followed it with films including Trespass, The Glass Shield and Higher Learning before helping create a different kind of showcase for himself. Cube co-wrote and starred in Friday, the 1995 comedy that paired him with Chris Tucker and later produced two sequels. That move into screenwriting was not an isolated detour: his work has also included film and television producing, while The Players Club marked his debut as a director. His filmography continued to move freely between tones, from the war comedy Three Kings and the action of XXX: State of the Union to family comedies such as Are We There Yet? Comedy became an especially durable part of his screen work. He starred in the Barbershop series, appeared as the formidable Captain Dickson in 21 Jump Street and 22 Jump Street, and teamed with Kevin Hart for Ride Along and Ride Along 2. Fist Fight gave him another role built around the tension between his imposing manner and a comic setup. Cube’s career is unusually broad without feeling disconnected. Rapper, songwriter, actor, screenwriter, producer, director and voice actor are all parts of the same body of work: a Los Angeles artist who carried an established point of view into movies, then learned how to reshape it for drama, action and comedy.