20 Years Later, Mario Van Peebles, Vanessa Williams and Christopher Williams Talk 'New Jack City'

Filed under: Interviews, A Closer Look, Where Are They Now

Twenty years ago this week, 'New Jack City' was released in theaters after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival months earlier.

Directed by Mario Van Peebles, the film starred Wesley Snipes, Allen Payne, Ice-T, Judd Nelson, Vanessa Williams, Bill Nunn, Chris Rock, Michael Michele, Russell Wong, Christopher Williams, Anthony DeSando, and Tracy Camilla Johns.

Snipes starred as Nino Brown, a rising drug dealer and crime lord in New York City during the crack epidemic. Ice-T plays a detective who vows to stop Nino's criminal activity by going undercover to work for Nino's gang, known as the CMB (Cash Money Brothers) crew.

Produced with an estimated $8 million dollars budget, and with some positive reviews, the movie - released Feb. 8, 1991 - became the highest-grossing independent film of 1992, grossing a total of $47.6 million domestically.

As the film continues to play on television, it has become a urban cult classic.

Blackvoices.com exclusively spoke with director Mario Van Peebles, and cast members Vanessa Williams and Christopher Williams, who played Kiesha and Kareem Akbar in the film, respectively.

For Van Peebles, after acting in several films and directing some episodes of notable TV series, such as '21 Jump Street' and 'Wiseguy,' 'New Jack City' was his film debut as a director. Like all of his projects, everything is a challenge.

"It's like this, man, we learn to play basketball we forget about the other team, and I was lucky enough growing up to have a father (Melvin Van Peebles) that was a filmmaker. It was kinda cool to have a dad who was the boss. He was with white folks and black folks. I didn't think it was an impossibility 'cause he had demystified the process. It's always a trick your first time doing a feature. I'd been doing 'Jump Street' and 'Wiseguy' and a number of TV shows prior to doing 'New Jack.' There were challenges because I was taking folks from all walks of life, like Wesley who had real skills as a thespian, to Ice T who was new as an actor but not new to the streets, he had street credibility. Chris Rock has the humor, and tragedy is just the other side of comedy. I was trying to take them all and put them in the same movie, and make sure that tonally they were in the same movie. The bigger challenge is trying to make a movie that has something to say, that's got a little nutritional value. Depending on your consciousness, you could watch the movie and see a direct gangsta flick, or you could say, 'Wow, you could be on this side of the equation with the gangsters or you could be with the New Jack cops.' I like to make films that work on multiple levels. For example, when Wesley Snipes is talking about getting rid of drugs, he says, 'Man, I'm making my money the way Joe Kennedy did.' "

Van Peebles has since directed several films, including 'Posse,' 'Panther' and 'BAADASSSS!'

He has two more project slated for release this year, 'We the Party' and 'Things Fall Apart,' starring rapper/actor 50 Cent.

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Vanessa Williams, who was already on stage prior to the film, recalls her audition and giving some life to her character Keisha.

"Twenty years ago I was doing the theater show 'Mule Bone' and then I headed to the movie theater to see the film, but for the audition, I got a call from my agent and went in there and met the folks there. I was so happy to be given the opportunity to play a bad-ass chick, and I was nothing but a little good ole church girl who wanted nothing more but to prove how bad I was. I had a whole backstory for Keisha, where the CMB crew was her family and she had all this love for Nino Brown. She would give her life for him. None of this was ever written, but I created this for myself so that Keisha would have a full and complete life and more than what was on the page. I got the role and it was my first feature, and I was excited to be down. People are always asking me to say the line, 'Rock-a-bye, baby!' "

The Brooklyn native went on star in the Showtime series 'Soul Food,' and cohosted the 'My Black Is Beautiful' TV Show on BET. While raising two sons, the happily single Williams is about to act in a one-woman show called 'Feet on the Ceiling,' which will start in Phoenix, Ariz.

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Christopher Williams, who was a successful singer with the songs 'Promises, Promises' (1989) and 'Talk to Myself' (1989), had a breakout hit with the song 'I'm Dreamin' from the 'New Jack City soundtrack and became a #1 single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts. He credits his friendship with Snipes for being cast in the film and giving him his first acting gig.

"I went to college with Wesley Snipes up at SUNY Purchase and we were in the theater program. He did a one-man show and I took a lot of interest doing the backstage stuff and learning the stage manager's role and doing the lighting and design. He took a lot of interest in me. When he got the part in the film, he spoke to (casting director) Pat Golden at Warner Bros. to reach out to Cassandra Mills, then-president of Giant Records' Urban Division, because he wanted them to audition me and I got the role and was blessed."

While the film offered more acting opportunities for Williams, with theaters roles in 'Man Is Hard to Find,' 'A House Is Not a Home' and 2009's 'The Clean Up Woman,' the 43-year-old Virginia native never gave up on his first love, which is singing. Although he hasn't released a new CD since 2001's 'Real Men Do,' he's ready to get back in the studio.

"My amenity is back. At my age now, the girls don't chase me anymore. It's just blessed. I'm the type of person that every day that I wake up, I'm just thankful. The journey has been beautiful. The good, the bad and indifferent, the adversity, the trials, the joys, and I'm just looking forward to chapter two. El Debarge has definitely inspired me to see that there's a market coming back for grown music. Nothing against the young cats. This is chapter two out and I'm ready to release my new CD, and I'm ready to do it again."