EXCLUSIVE – Fans of the movie franchise are likely to always remember actor Jeremy Piven’s wild cameo in “Rush Hour 2.” And it turns out he had just as much fun acting it as audiences did watching.
In the sequel, Piven plays a flamboyant Versace store clerk in Las Vegas who helps Carter and Lee, played by Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, with their suit shopping. In the Brett Ratner-directed films, Chan stars as a top Hong Kong inspector and Tucker as a Los Angeles police officer who team up to solve international crimes. Piven’s brief scene had audiences praising him for pulling off “one of the greatest cameos of all time” with his flashy, comedic timing as he confuses Carter and Lee as a gay couple and promises to turn them into “the belle of the ball.”
“You know, when I played that scene, it was just before I had done ‘Entourage,'” Piven told Fox News Digital. “I was still in my kind of journeyman actor phase. I think I still am in that phase, fortunately or unfortunately. You know, about 40 movies before ‘Entourage’ and that was one of them. And I had one line, you know, ‘May I help you?’ And I improvised and had fun with it and, yeah, it would be great to explore that character again.”
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Fans were thrilled by the news that nearly two decades since the last movie, “Rush Hour 4” was in the works, yet some may be concerned about whether the latest film in the franchise would suffer in today’s more sensitized environment. The first three films are known for their politically incorrect humor as much as for their action sequences.
“I would like whatever sequel comes out, for it to be true to its nature with ‘Rush Hour,'” Piven said. “And yeah, it’d be fun to see where my character is now.”
Piven also addressed his famous scene in a recent interview with New Yorkers Live, saying he was glad viewers didn’t think he was “demeaning the gay community” with his portrayal. In the same interview, Piven said that once people stop being so “easily triggered” by comedy in general, they’re “going to have a better life.”
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Piven suggested that as long as the movie stays true to what made the franchise funny in the first place, fans will show up. The “Rush Hour” movies earned big laughs out of the culture clash of Lee and Carter when out of their element — one particularly memorable scene in the first movie shows Chan’s character accidentally using a racial slur that he thinks is endearing him to a bartender; in the second movie, Carter nearly gets himself killed by gangsters at a Hong Kong club when he starts talking too much.
“I think if they try to second-guess the humor and play it safe or operate out of fear, no good can come creatively when you operate out of fear,” Piven told Fox News Digital. “So, I think if they’re true to the spirit of the rest of those movies. . . . You know, Chris has evolved since then as a person and as a performer. And so has Jackie. Jackie is an absolute legend. And so it’d be really fun to see where they are now. And it would be fun to be a part of that again. I love those guys.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Paramount for comment.
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Piven, best-known for his Emmy-winning turn as Hollywood agent Ari Gold in HBO’s “Entourage,” is currently on a comedy tour throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. The show, according to the official website, “highlights Piven’s successful transition into stand-up comedy, a comedic muscle he’s been flexing to showcase his dynamic personality.”
“What’s so fun about doing stand-up is, no matter what the room is, no matter the temperature is, it’s our job to navigate it and to kind of be the best version of ourselves in that moment,” Piven told Fox News Digital. “Whether, no matter what you’re facing. So, I mean, that’s one of the great challenges, I believe.”
