One could easily think that being the child of a celebrity is a wonderful thing, especially if that son or daughter is in the same field as their parent.
But Ice Cube‘s son O’Shea Jackson Jr. said the benefits of being the rapper’s kid share the same space as the cons.
Jackson Jr. got his big-screen debut playing his dad in the 2015 biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” and this year he’s in two movies, “Godzilla,” which hits theaters Friday, as well as “Long Shots,” which premiered earlier this month.
In an interview with Essence, the 28-year-old talked about being Cube’s son and how it adds a unique kind of pressure for him.
“That ‘junior’ is difficult,” he said of his name. “The junior is a gift and a curse. It’s a lot of pressure. It’s a lot of pressure put on a son to bear his father’s name, but at the end of the day pressure makes diamonds, so what are you scared of?”
“First of all, I take joy in carrying my father’s name,” added Jackson Jr. “I love the fact that he will live on through me. It is an honor to be a junior always, but you will always be reminded. You’re always asked if you’re walking in your father’s footsteps or you’re trying to be better than your father.”
According to IMDb, Jackson has seven projects under his belt since “Straight Outta Compton,” both in film and television.
And next year he’ll play alongside Michael B. Jordan in “Just Mercy,” a film about civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson. Jackson Jr. has also signed on to be in “Space Jam 2,” which is slated to hit theaters in 2021.
“I’ve always been taught by my father that when it comes to this business, never do a movie that you wouldn’t go see yourself,” he explained. “At the same time, I know that after ‘Straight Outta Compton,’ a lot of people might have their own [thoughts on] the type of person I am, the type of actor I am.”
The young actor said he’s been ultra-selective with his roles since playing his dad in the biopic and didn’t want to be in just any film to maintain the momentum he received in 2015.
“Every role that I picked after that was for me to show range,” Jackson Jr. continued. “It was for me to show that I can get down and I can rub elbows with the best of them. This whole thing has been, of course, just part of the strategy just to further show that I’m here to stay.”
