photo by steed media service

Words by DeWayne Rogers
Images by Hiltron Bailey for Steed Media Service

As the larger than life summer blockbusters continue to bring home boatloads of cash with the third installments of prized franchises such as Spiderman, Shrek, and Pirates of the Caribbean, one sequel is getting set to hit the theatres that may in sneak up on a few people. The film? Daddy Day Camp. And it's emergence onto the landscape of 2007 summer movie mania has come as a bit of a surprise to most if not all casual moviegoers. I mean no one really saw this one coming.

Let's face it. Even though the second half of comedian Eddie Murphy's career saw him find a comfortable niche as the goto guy for family comedies, a sequel to the surprise 2003 hit which raked in over $104 million domestically just didn't seem to be in the cards. But studio executive always felt there was a built-in audience that was anxiously anticipating the sequel to this film. And although Murphy never came to the table to produce the sequel, a suitable replacement was found. Enter Academy award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. rolling out sat down with the talented actor to discuss replacing Murphy, and the foundation from which his entire career was built upon, in an interview that turned out to be a very candid look into the life and times of Cuba Gooding Jr.

Daddy Day Care pulled in huge numbers with Eddie Murphy in the lead role. How excited are you about being a part of the sequel and kind of picking up where Eddie left off?
You know it's really great. I've got two boys ages 10 and 12, and they participate in camps literally every week of the entire summer, and it's been that way for about three years now. And I just think that the whole concept behind camp is just great. I mean these kids literally become adults with all that they have to face, endure and overcome while at camp. So when I got this script, I was not really interested in doing a sequel or trying to fill Eddie Murphy's shoes, but I was more interested in the story itself. This really stood out to me as its on little movie. And besides, when people actually get a chance to se the film, they'll notice that this one has a lot more heart than the first one. I'm especially proud about that point.

The importance of teamwork was a major theme throughout the film, but the relationship between you and your father in the fi lm also proved to be very important. In your opinion which one stood out to you as being the most important?
I think they were all equally important to be honest with you. Teamwork is of course a valuable lesson to be taken away from the film, but there was this wonderful sequence that sticks out in my mind, when my father shows up to help at the camp, and we've been estranged. During this sequence, my father is all about winning, but the kids are simply focused on doing their best. Many times, you'll have kids that are participating in sports or other various forms of competition, and their motivations are so different from their parents. The parents get caught up in the competition aspect, where the kids just want to have fun and be a team. I think that message was brought home beautifully with this film. They will come a time when it will be about being first and winning, but early on children need to be developing their people skills, and that comes from learning how to work with others.

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