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With his improvisational, battle-of-the-comedians extravaganza, "Wild 'N Out," airing weekly on MTV, and a starring role in (and executive producer credit on) the upcoming comedy-action flick, "Underclassman," Nick Cannon has his hands full nowadays. And at the not-so-tender age of 24, the always multi-tasking California native wouldn't have it any other way. After all, as Cannon points out, when you're blessed (or cursed) with a mind that's constantly spinning out ideas, storylines and skits, the best thing to do is just write 'em down and hope they fly. MTV News' Tami Katzoff recently chatted with Cannon about the joys of impersonating Sway Calloway, the stunts he still wants to try onscreen and the tribulations of playing in the ocean in six-degree weather.
MTV: You had a lot of fun impersonating Sway on the premiere episode of "Wild 'N Out." Where did that idea come from?
Nick Cannon: We just want to do what "In Living Color" used to do, you know, and just call people out. Like, "Hey, we're having fun with you, it's all in good fun, but we're gonna call you on your stuff, too."
Like with the Sway impersonation. [Switches to his "Sway" voice.] "What's up world, this is 'My Block,' with Sway doin' it real big, representin' Oakland, California.' He always has these weird, interesting pauses, and he's always calling people "world." "Hey, world!" Don't ask me. But I can make fun of him, 'cause I have a cool relationship with Sway. In fact, he was telling me that he thought it was him when he woke up and saw that bit playing on "Wild 'N Out." He was like, "Hey, I don't remember … oh, that's Nick."
MTV: In "Underclassman," you play an undercover cop at an elite private high school, and you get to do an awful lot in terms of stunts and other action moves. Was there anything that you were asked to do that made you think twice?
Cannon: Most definitely! We did some scenes in Vancouver, and it was six degrees outside. I had to jump in the ocean in the middle of the night with a wife-beater on, and then once I got out of the water I had to get in a boat that was going 45 mph with the wind blowing. It was crazy — they had to dump me in a tub of hot water after they called "Cut!" so that I wouldn't get hypothermia. I knew that I had to go hard for the movie — like, whatever they want me to do, I'm gonna do it — but that was one where I was like, "This is a tough night."
MTV: Do you have a wish list for what you'd like to do or learn how to do in an upcoming movie?
Cannon: Sky diving. I would love to sky dive in a movie. That would just be really fun. They did that in [the Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze surfer-action-crime flick] "Point Break" and I thought that was really cool.
MTV: Is a combination of reckless and serious, the tone that you were aiming for in "Underclassman"?
Cannon: Oh, yeah, definitely. Obviously we wanted to get the comedic element of the loose cannon, you know what I mean? You want to get the guy who will do anything, and I also wanted to give the character some heart and some depth, to where you understand what he was going through and why he was making the decisions he was making. I kind of had to give the role the substance that it needed, but at the same time you want to have a good time and show people that this is a guy who can wild out.
MTV: You're very hands-on with the "Underclassman" — starring, executive producing, helping to come up with the story. Where and when did you decide how deeply involved you wanted to be with this project?
Cannon: I think that from the beginning of my career, I always figured that, you know, even in stand-up comedy you write your own jokes. You create your own material. You're producing a show every night. So I think that was kind of embedded in my mind, the idea that, if you're not going to do it, who else is gonna do it for you? And that's just the mentality I have with everything, whether it's my show or a film or whatever. And also I'm just so creative, like my mind is always spinning with different ideas — good or bad — it's always got something coming out. So I always want to get all that stuff down on paper, and that's where it all starts.
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Photo: Getty Images
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