Ice Cube rolls the dice in 'Lottery'

Ice Cube has never played the lottery and doesn't plan to.

"Never had an itch to play," he said during a Philadelphia visit last week. "I always knew I wasn't gonna win. I wasn't gonna play over a dollar."

But his lack of lottery experience didn't stop him from producing and starring in "Lottery Ticket," which opens today.

"Lottery Ticket" stars Bow Wow as Kevin, an 18-year-old shoe junkie who lives in the projects and whose life changes when he wins $370 million in the Mondo Millions Lottery. Unfortunately, the lottery- claims office is closed for the Fourth of July weekend and Kevin quickly learns not everyone in the neighborhood is his friend as he tries to keep his good fortune quiet until he can claim his prize.

Cube, 41, in a gray beard and some padding, plays Mr. Washington, Kevin's friend and mentor.

"He's the dude who represents the older generation and looks at the neighborhood going down," he said. "He's got to a position where he doesn't really think he can do anything about it. All he has really is a lot of good advice. He gives advice about what kind of man [Kevin] should be and how to handle things."

And by forcing himself out of his apartment to interact with Kevin, Washington learns to accept the younger generation.

Cube said he looked to his own father to add flavor to the character.

"I looked at my father's mannerisms and how he does and says things," he said. "Most people want to play an old dude where he can barely talk, but most black men that age still got their swagger. I still wanted Mr. Washington to still have his little swagger. I made him more of a modern older man."

Cube called in favors to assemble the ensemble cast, including Charlie Murphy, Terry Crews, Mike Epps, Bill Bellamy and T-Pain, who plays the owner of the store where Kevin buys his winning ticket.

"We've done movies with most of these people," he said. "They were cool and happy to do it. People understand that my movies ["Barbershop," "Are We There Yet?"] are funny and people come out to see them, so they jumped at it."

Juggling executive-producer and acting responsibilities wasn't stressful because he had a great team working with him. "Matt Alvarez did a lot of heavy work on producing. Basically, I was able to focus on my role when it was time for me to shoot. I was able to take my producer hat off and put my acting hat on."

Another scene in which Cube borrowed from his own life is when Kevin hides out from his neighbors, who seek to ride his soon-to-be-wealthy coattails.

Cube calls this the "quiet before the storm" and he remembers his own time when he was on the verge of making it.

"I wasn't letting anyone get close to me," he said. "I kept everybody right where they were before it all happened. Some are closer, some are at arm's length, and some are across town. You just have to remember because everyone is going to come up to you nice."

Despite the jokes and comedy in "Lottery Ticket," its moral is simple but serious, said Cube. "When you get success, you get a million friends and when you lose it, everybody leaves but a certain few."

And what would he have done if he'd won $300+ million at age 18?

Cube sipped his water and reflected for nearly a minute before answering. "I'd probably have some team or something I would've tried to buy. I don't know if that's enough money to buy a football team, but maybe a basketball team.

"Ain't nobody to buy but the Lakers, but I don't know if that's enough money to buy them. They're like a billion dollars."