Faizon Love will forever be known for his iconic role as Big Worm from the cult classic film “Friday.”
The comedian has popped up in several other films and television shows since the 1995 blockbuster helmed by rapper-actor Ice Cube debuted, but none have had quite the lasting impression. Yet despite delivering memorable one-liners in the film that fans recite to this day, Love recently revealed that it was his choice to not reprise the role of Big Worm in the franchise’s sequels (“Next Friday” and “Friday After Next”).
Speaking with “Comedy Hype,” Love confirmed that he was only paid $2,500 to portray the neighborhood dope boy who had Chris Tucker’s character Smokey hemmed up over money. “See, it wasn’t really about the money then,” said Love on why he was willing to accept the deal. “I got to say I’m working, pay my rent, I ain’t out in the street doing no bulls—t.” He continued, “It wasn’t iconic when we did it,” while noting that taking on the role today would come at a much different cost.
While it may seem as though his role in the film simply disappeared, similar to Deebo in “Next Friday,” Love says that was not the case. “They wanted to give me double-scale. The scale was $2,500, right. So that was $5,000,” he added with a grimace while acknowledging the payout was simply not enough to reprise his role. Instead he accepted a role in “The Replacements” for $100,000.
But even with the small payout from “Friday,” Love says he would be open, now, to returning to the “Friday” franchise. “Now if I do it again, they talking about the last Friday then, oh yeah, I’m with it. You got a last check?” said Love. “If Cube said, ‘Faizon, there’s no money. I need you to do this.’ I would have to do it on GP because it was that character that brought me into the game heavy.”
“Friday” also helped launch Chris Tucker’s career as the weed-smoking enthusiast best friend to Craig, portrayed by Ice Cube. Tucker has revealed in the past that he was only paid $10,000 for starring in the film. Despite the push from fans to return to the franchise he has made it clear time and time again that he’s not interested. Only recently did he add another layer to his reasoning when he revealed that he wanted to be mindful of the image he was putting out into the world with his roles.
“I don’t want to represent everyone smokin’ weed,” said Tucker. “I kinda made it more personal than a movie, and that’s one of the reasons I said, ‘Nah, I don’t want to keep doing that character.’”
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