By Michael Letterlough Jr.

Walking down the hall of the posh Four Seasons Hotel, you can hear the distinct voice of funny man Mike Epps, booming from the room at the very end of the hall. As you enter, he greets you in such a comfortable manner that it seems as though he’s known you for years. In an instant it becomes obvious, almost immediately, that the glitz and glam of Hollywood’s superficial world haven’t changed this Indiana native at all.

“Aint nothin’ changed,” Epps said, speaking on how his life has changed, or not, since becoming a Hollywood actor. “I’m just geographically placed in another spot in America. I mean it’s changed– I got a bigger house and better car, but…I feel like I aint never made it. And when you struggle for a long time to get to something, I aint talkin’ about just in comedy, I’m talkin about in life—when you get there, it’s nothin’. I mean, it’s somethin’…but it’s nothin’.”

Epps, who got his start as a standup comedian about 12 years ago, said while some of his biggest comedic influences came from people he knew in his own neighborhood, it wasn’t until one particular incident he knew he might have what it takes.

“One time the police pulled me over and asked me, ‘Why was I goin’ so fast?’ and I said, ‘’Cause I didn’t see (you),” he said, laughing. “The cop just started laughin’ and I said, aww man, I got to put this on stage. So I didn’t get a ticket or nothin’.”

Slouched down in a love seat next to a large window overlooking Ben Franklin Parkway, Epps shared that even as a child he might have had a tendency to take the jokes a little too far.

“I had always been in trouble,” he said, explaining why he ended up in a juvenile center as a kid. “I glued somebody’s hands together,” he said, “Somebody was bullying me, (they) kept slappin’ me so, I was scared they was gonna slap me again, so I said I’ll make sure they pray for the rest of the day,” he smiled. “I stayed in juvenile for about 60 days, but I had been in trouble before then though.”

Eventually Epps would leave the confines of his Indiana neighborhood and head out to cities like New York, Atlanta, and Los Angeles to pursue his career as a standup comedian. It was in Los Angeles that he caught the eye of rapper turned actor, Ice Cube and auditioned for the part in his sequel to the hilarious classic “Friday,” “Next Friday.”

“Ice Cube’s my man,” Epps said. “I still talk to him, we still rap. We might do ‘The Benjamins II’ together…if they can get it together. You know how that is,” he said, trailing off, “Hollywood man, they jerk you around, tell you they gonna do something and then don’t never do it.”
Epps is probably best known for his role as the emotionally erratic Day-Day in “Next Friday.” But while his movie catalogue includes appearances in such movies as “Bait,” “The Fighting Temptations” and “Resident Evil: Apocolypse,” most recently Epps was tailored as the classic television character Ed Norton opposite Cedric the Entertainer in the remake of “The Honeymooners.”

“I wasn’t in the movie enough,” Epps said. “It was a lot of different reasons, but people [are] probably tired of seeing me do sidekick pictures,” he said, explaining why the movie didn’t do so well at the box office. “They might feel, ‘We aint gonna come see Mike do another sidekick picture…Imma get ‘em.”

One of Epps’ latest projects is the upcoming family movie starring another rapper turned actor, Bow Wow, called “Roll Bounce.”

“Roll Bounce is a very good movie, (it’s) a family movie,” he said smiling. “It was good to work with Bow Wow; to see him grow up from this little kid, to this grown man now,” he said laughing.

“That’s all he kept braggin’ about, ‘Man Mike, I’m 18 now man, I’m movin’ out,’ I’m like, okay. But that’s a family movie from the (70’s), so I imagine everyone’s gonna enjoy takin their kids to see that movie. It’s gonna help a lot of people reminisce on back in them days, ‘cause they even dress like it.”

One upcoming movie project Epps has been chosen to do will be the biography on the life of legendary comedian Richard Pryor.

“He hand picked me to do the movie, and his wife,” said Epps. “So right now I’m just kinda like preparing for it by doin’ my standup and stayin’ in good spirits with his spirits on doin’ it. He is the real king of comedy, and boy…I’m glad I got picked to do it.”

Slated for a release sometime in late 2006 or early 2007, while Epps prepares for his first major leading role in a movie, he continues to do what he does best: standup, which is, until the movie is released, the one place he said where he can always be the star.

“I’m up there by myself. That’s where I’m the leading man,” he said. “That’s my life, that’s my game right there—standup. The actin’ game, I aint got no control over that.”

Still slouched down in the couch, Epps said he stays focused with prayer and always makes sure he’s doing God’s work. He interrupted himself and said in regards to the natural disaster in New Orleans, “My heart goes out to them people. But the whole United States should have felt that.

“Let God do his work. A Noah’s Ark just happened recently, so just let (president George Bush) get his.”

He turned his head and looked out the window as if in reflection and continued to share that one of the most rewarding parts of his career are the people that admire his work.

While others are admiring his work, one might wonder who Epps admired more playing opposite such sexy co-stars as Eva Mendes in “All About the Benjamins” and Beyonce in “The Fighting Temptations.”

“Beyonce. She’s Black, I like Black,” he said with assurance. “I like Black first—period. No if, and’s or but’s…and then whatever’s extra is cool,” he said smiling.

But, Epps said, despite a lengthy catalogue of box office movies opposite some of Hollywood’s biggest names, and well received comedy shows across the country, all he wants is a little more recognition for the craft he’s been blessed to have.

“I just want some more respect,” he said. “I don’t feel like they respectin’ me the way they should. So my goal is to get my respect…the respect I need.”