Ambition is the gateway to something far more sinister in the film Juice. When four friends start to head into a spiral of criminal behavior instigated by their friend Bishop, they eventually realize that Bishop isn’t just out for the thrill of it, he’s become addicted to the adrenaline rush that killing brings. As things continue to escalate following the death of one of their group Q and Steel do their best to keep away from Bishop. It’s only when Q finally confronts and kills Bishop that it all ends. This movie shows what blind ambition can do to a person, and to one’s friendships.
For being such a powerful movie it got downplayed a lot.
10. Tupac Shakur would often walk off the set between filming.
Fellow cast member Jermaine Hopkins decided to pull a prank on him by telling Shakur that he’d been fired. When the prank was discovered Tupac got into a fight with Hopkins.
9. Shakur wanted people to call him Bishop even when off screen.
He was that intense that he wanted to stay in character as much as possible, which meant that he was also kind of edgy.
8. Tupac nailed the reading on his first go around.
He auditioned twice actually, once for the part of Q and then for Bishop. He had just the right attitude that was needed for Bishop so they signed him on.
7. Omar Epps did learn to spin as a DJ.
It took him a while to learn but a lot of what he does in the movie is authentic since he took the time and put in the effort to get it right.
6. Q did manage to avoid prosecution and went on to become famous.
You get to hear this at the end of the movie as it’s moving towards the credits. Everyone wanted to know what happened to Q.
5. The film was shot on location in Harlem.
Since it was shot over a period of time in which the weather was changing you can see how that’s reflected in the style of clothing that the guys are wearing.
4. Juice was slang for power and respect in the 90’s.
If you said it now people might look at you funny, but old-timers might actually know what you were talking about. They’d likely smile at you in a long-suffering sort of way though.
3. Tupac would hang out on occasion with people around the neighborhood.
It was kind of his attempt to get to know the people in the area so that he could better understand the culture and the mindset of the locals.
2. Epps was a senior in high school when he was cast in his role.
He was only 17 when he was cast in this role and was one of the youngest guys in the movie.
1. The original ending featured Bishop letting go of Q’s hand.
In the version that got released Bishop begged Q not to let him go, but he slipped out of Q’s hand. The original had Bishop actually wanting to die.
It was kind of a dark movie, but it had a very strong message.
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