Interview: Martin Lawrence

BSN: Did you base the character on someone you know?
ML: Yeah, kind of my grandmother and my mother. My mother’s just not as big as Big Momma, but the voice that’s on Big Momma kind of comes from my moms and my grandmother.

BSN: Martin, would you mind setting up this sequel for folks.
ML: Set up? I can’t set nothin’ up. They gotta go see it.

BSN: Tell me a little about your character. 
ML: Well, I play Malcolm Turner, an FBI Agent who has a desk job and kind of works as a mascot, talking to children about safety. He’s in a safe job, because he’s married, now, to Nia Long’s character, and she’d rather he be in a safe job. So, he works a desk job.

BSN: Then how does he end up back in drag as Big Momma?
ML: His partner winds up getting killed and a disk comes up missing that threatens national security. Now he has to go undercover as Big Momma in order to get this disk back.

BSN: And why is Big Momma undercover as a nanny this time out?
ML: This family, their father is a suspect. We think he’s a key link to the disk. It just so happens the family is looking for a nanny, and what better way for Big Momma to go undercover than as a nanny to try to get close to the suspect to see if he can get the disk back.

BSN: Were you excited about making this sequel?
ML: I was real excited about the sequel because everyone enjoyed the first one. They received it real well, so I wanted that opportunity with Big Momma 2 to give you more Big Momma. You know, more badder, better, fatter and bigger.

BSN: Did you base the character on someone you know?
ML: Yeah, kind of my grandmother and my mother. My mother’s just not as big as Big Momma, but the voice that’s on Big Momma kind of comes from my moms and my grandmother.

BSN: How much of a pain was it getting in and out of that fat suit everyday during the filming?
ML: I got out of it a lot faster than I got into it. The suit was easy to come off. The arms and the legs, you could take them off in five minutes, but the face is what probably took a half hour to get off.

BSN: How did you enjoy working opposite Nia again?
ML: It’s always a pleasure to work with her. She just keeps it real, so I had a lot of fun with her. She’s very talented and she ain’t bad on the eyes.

BSN: Thanks, Martin.
ML: Thank you.

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