Published October 2000 

CUBA GOODING JR.

Priorities, the Screen & Military Legends

" Show me the money!" has been his lion's call since it won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Cameron Crowe's Jerry Maguire. But four years later, it also seems to have become his modus operandi when it comes to selecting movie roles.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. is remarkably candid in his admission that he nearly missed out on playing Carl Brashear in George Tillman, Jr.'s Men of Honor because the money wasn't all there. It took an industry giant to humble him into acceptance. "We negotiated on my contract and we fell out of negotiations," explains Gooding, Jr. while in Toronto recently. " Then I second-guessed it because I thought `Don't let this get in the way of you doing this great role. ' So what do I do now? I call [Robert] De Niro. He cussed me out to the max: `What are you doing? You don't do this! You always think of movie.' So I was back in. "

Indeed. And it turned out to be his toughest role to date. Men of Honor is the remarkably true story of the first African-American Navy diver who, not only overcame racism and intolerance within his unit, but also rewrote history by becoming an active diver with a prosthetic leg.

"It was hard, physically," says the 32-year-old New York native. "I spent two weeks in a tank that was 20 feet deep and I had the 220 pound suit on, and that was a little straining. At the end of the day I would sit on my steps in the trailer I couldn't even walk in my trailer that's how fatigued I was I would rest my elbows on my knees and my whole body would start to shake, so I would have to sit up. It was a very strenuous movie. "

But what an extraordinary story. Brashear grew up the son of poor Kentucky sharecroppers and before heading out into the newly integrated navy, he promised his father he would "never quit always do my best." And he kept his promise. First he manages the impossible: getting into the Dive School program. Then he does the unthinkable: he becomes a Navy Diver despite the attempts by his superiors and comrades to keep him out. And if that wasn't enough, after losing a leg in a horrific accident aboard a ship, he convinces the Navy to keep him in active duty, thus changing military history forever. Brashear retired over 20 years ago with the prestigious titles of Master Diver and Master Chief.

That's one tall order to follow. "Yeah, I felt like that after reading the script," smiles Gooding, Jr. "After I met him, I was even more in awe. Talking to him makes me feel at ease about anything and makes you feel like you can do anything because he's such a personable guy. And him being on the set was kind of fun. He's was very good about it, he never ever said anything unless he was asked. He loved to talk and tell stories. "

So what did this kid from the Bronx get from a legend like Carl Brashear? "Just the sense on he dealt with opposition," says Cuba. "He's very friendly and he smiles, and the way his personality is I knew this man didn't brood much or complain much. So it was almost a reassurance that I could play this character with a focus on what he wanted to accomplish but never really having to think about ways to get even with, say, racism or hatred of any kind. It was all for a purpose, a glorified purpose. He took everything seriously but not personally. That gave me a foundation on which to base the character on. "

And despite his large body of work, this is the first time Gooding, Jr. has portrayed a "real" person which, he admits, is an added pressure. "Authenticity was very important because he [Brashear] was there every day," he explains. " I have to admit that I'm happy that Carl isn't a household celebrity. What I mean is, if I was to play Martin Luther King, Jr. in a movie [an Oliver Stone project that's been scrapped], or like Will Smith's Mohammed Ali, I'd be paranoid because people know all the connotations. I'd be almost a caricature. But people don't know Carl, so I kind of set the pace for him."

As for Robert De Niro he plays an amalgamation of three separate Navy officials who had the greatest effect on Brashear's life. So what was it like working with a movie icon?

" It's a learning experience, that's for sure," says Gooding, Jr. "When we first met in New York for a read-through, we talked for hours and then he hugged me before I went home to Los Angeles. Then, after I've been filming for three weeks, he begins filming. On the very first day we have to walk across this lawn together. On that first day he's not saying anything. We're about to walk through this walk, we're sitting on our first mark, and I say `Hey, how you doin'? ' and he ignores me. We shoot the scene and at the end of the day my assistant knocks on my trailer door and says ` Mr. De Niro wants to see you in his trailer. ' Holy shit, I thought. I walk in there, and we had the best time for the next two hours laughing and hanging out. That for me sums up what it's like to work with him. On the set it was business, business, business. But afterwards we hang out. "

So the moral of the story for Cuba Gooding, Jr. is: Money isn't everything. Then again, watching him walk down the hotel lobby with his large entourage as a stretch limo waited outside, one wonders if this kid learned this lesson.

Angela Baldassarre can be heard live on Reel Entertainment at www.2kool4radio.com