KEY POINTS:
Chris Tucker has the Hollywood thing all worked out.
The bug-eyed, Atlanta-born comedian rarely works, but remains one of the movie industry's highest paid actors, making more than US$20 million ($28.4 million) a film.
When he isn't working, you won't find him lunching at The Ivy or smooching with Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan at Winston's, Les Deux or another hot Los Angeles club. He'll probably be in Ethiopia or Uganda with Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela or Bono, shining a spotlight on Africa's battle with poverty, disease and war.
"Life is what you make it," says Tucker, who turned 35 in August.
"If you just want to be a big, rich movie star and that's it, well, that's what you're going to be. I wanted more."
Tucker's latest Hollywood hiatus lasted six years.
In 2001, he was the industry's golden boy after Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2, his action-comedy films with Jackie Chan, made US$600 million between them at the worldwide box office.
Tucker was paid US$20 million for Rush Hour 2, a small investment for the studio considering the film's US$350 million box office take.
But at the height of his success, he walked away, and did not make a movie between 2001 and 2007.
"I reached the top real fast," he says, explaining his decision to turn his back on Hollywood. "It wasn't what I thought it would be.
"I found out that being a big star, making movies and a lot of money, it didn't really interest me."
Tucker went looking for new challenges. "I didn't want to just make a lot of money and a lot of movies," he said.
"When I did step back, a whole new world opened up.
"I never could imagine going on these great trips with Bill Clinton and Bono. I've now been to 14 different countries in Africa and I'm only 35."
He set up the Chris Tucker Foundation to fight poverty in Africa and the United States.
Programmes include sending American doctors to Africa to train medical staff and providing scholarships to children who would not be able to attend school or university.
"I used to use bottled water to brush my teeth - I didn't want to use the sink water because I thought it was dirty," he said. "I'll never do that again after seeing what I've seen.
"I went to Uganda and saw villages that didn't have clean water because an animal died in the water supply.
"Little girls would have to walk hours to get a bucket of water for their family.
"They had to stay home and work instead of go to school."
On his first trip to Africa, a conversation with a nun at an orphanage changed his life.
"I was in Ethiopia and saw a room full of babies," Tucker said.
"Some were blind and their parents had died from war or disease.
"There were only two nuns looking after them.
"I said: 'The babies can't be getting the attention and love that they need'.
"Then this nun told me a story about what Mother Teresa told her.
"Mother Teresa said: 'Every rain drop creates an ocean'.
"It clicked with me. If you do your part and someone else does their part, it will solve the problem or help solve the problem."
Tucker is delighted that other Hollywood A-Listers are now travelling to Africa to raise awareness of the continent's troubles.
"When I first went to Africa with Bill Clinton and Bono it was not popular to do so," he said.
"Now you see George Clooney and Don Cheadle doing stuff in Darfur. You see Jay-Z and Alicia Keys giving money for clean water.
"Maybe they heard or saw Bono or myself.
"Maybe that influenced them, because if you turn on the TV news, it's definitely not reporting what's going on in Africa."
Just when Tucker's fans and Hollywood studio New Line, which had made more than half a billion dollars from the Rush Hour films, thought he would shun Hollywood forever, Tucker began showing interest in Rush Hour 3.
But Chan was not sure if he wanted to reprise his role as one half of a bumbling, odd international crime fighting team. Chan plays a straight-faced Chinese inspector, and Tucker is the excitable Los Angeles Police Department detective.
With negotiations for Rush Hour 3 under way, Tucker decided to earn some more frequent flyer points.
"I flew to Asia to meet Jackie to make sure he got everything he wanted in the movie," Tucker said.
"We had to find out how we could get the two characters back together and how we would go from Rush Hour 2."
What did interest Chan and Tucker was that Brett Ratner, director of the first two Rush Hours, had agreed to helm the third.
As well, the script was set partially in Paris, an attractive prospect for the actors.
"Paris was one of the reasons," Tucker said. "I also thought it would be a good movie to come back because it allowed me to do a lot - action, comedy, dancing and singing."
The money, whether the actors would admit it or not, was also an enticement. New Line agreed to pay Tucker US$25 million plus 20 per cent of the film's back end profits and Chan US$15 million plus 15 per cent of the back end.
Rush Hour 3 opened last month in the US with a US$50 million first weekend debut, and had already made US$200 million internationally, so Tucker could pocket more than US$70 million.
It is hard to believe, but Tucker says his biggest joy is not the fat pay cheque. "If you have done a good job, if people do really enjoy your movie, nothing feels better than that," he says. "There's no greater feeling than sneaking into a theatre and hearing people laughing."
- AAP
