Where Are They Now? The Cast Of New Jack City
New Jack City came on VH1 recently, and I was engrossed in it as though I was watching the film for the very first time. I think a lot of people feel that way about the film, because it was just that entertaining. Watching it for the umpteenth time made me wonder: Where has the cast gone? Where are they now?
I did some digging, and here’s what they’re looking like and up to now:
Warner Bros./WENN
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Wesley Snipes
Snipes played the hell out of drug kingpin Nino Brown, and we all know that the ’90s were good, if not great, to his career. But everything came to a halt when he spent three years in prison for tax evasion charges (starting in 2010). But since he was released earlier this year, he’s been back to work like he never left. He was just in the Expendables 3 and is about to be in the film, Chronicles of the Mayan Tunnel.
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Ice-T
It’s still crazy to me that Ice-T went from rapping about being a “cop killer” to playing one on more than one occasion. After starring as Undercover Detective Scotty Appleton, who is out for Nino Brown and with a vengeance, the rapper played Danny Cort on “New York Undercover,” was on the show “Players,” and has played Detective Fin Tutuola on “Law & Order: Special Victims Units” since 2000.
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Allen Payne
Poor Gee Money…
Allen Payne was Nino Brown’s right-hand man in the Cash Money Brothers, but he was killed by Brown after it was revealed that he was working on a side deal, and that Scotty was actually an undercover cop (Gee Money kept vouching for him). Payne was huge in the ’90s, going on to do “The Cosby Show,” Jason’s Lyric and A Vampire in Brooklyn. He went MIA for a while, and eventually nabbed a starring role on the Tyler Perry show, “House of Payne” from 2006 to 2012.
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Chris Rock
Chris Rock is one of the biggest comedians on earth, but back in ’93, he was just Pookie, a former crack addict who teamed up with Detective Scotty Appleton to take down Nino Brown and the CMB. We know that didn’t work out too well for him…
But in real life, Rock’s career took off. He went on to do “Saturday Night Live,” Nurse Betty, Down To Earth, “Everybody Hates Chris,” Grown Ups, and recently finished his newest film, Top Five.
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Mario Van Peebles
Peebles played Detective Stone in the film, and after doing New Jack City, his career pretty much continued on strong. His most recent work includes the movie We Own The Party, All Things Fall Apart and a guest appearance on the show “Nashville.”
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Judd Nelson
I’m most familiar with Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club, but he was great as spunky Det. Nick Peretti. He continued working a lot in the ’90s, including doing the show “Suddenly Susan,” and hasn’t stopped since. Recently, he did voice work for the animated kids show “Ben 10: Universe” and is working on three new films.
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Michael Michele
The gorgeous Michael Michele played Brown’s gorgeous and well-connected girlfriend. She helped him become the major kingpin he was, and the bigger he became, the more he mistreated her (and the fact that she was barren didn’t help their relationship either). Don’t feel sorry for her though, because in real life, Michael Michele is still looking amaaaaazing all these years later at 48. She was most recently a guest star on the now defunct show “Gossip Girl,” and has been doing a lot of TV movies lately, including one called “Delirium.”
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Bill Nunn
The stuttering CMB enforcer (his name in the film was literally Duh Duh Duh Man) in New Jack City, we saw Nunn in a whole different way compared to his past characters. These days, Nunn is more selective in his roles. He played a principal in Won’t Back Down with Viola Davis, and was just in a TV series called “Sirens.”
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Vanessa Williams
“Rock-a-bye baby” Keisha was the only woman in CMB, and she was one of the toughest members. Williams’ characters since that role have been very different (and much less trill). Most people know her from playing Maxine Chadway on Showtime’s “Soul Food,” but she most recently was in the movies Men, Money & Gold Diggers and Crossed The Line.
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Christopher Williams
The singer was pretty hot in the ’90s, and he played smooth bank teller-turned gang member Kareem Akbar in New Jack City. Since then, he’s been in film projects here and there, but his most recent TV work had everyone talking. Williams was a guest star on last season’s “Real Housewives of Atlanta” where his relationship (and his teeth it seems) were put on blast.
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Bill Cobbs
Cobbs played an old man who lived in the Carter, which is where the CMB took over to do their drug dealings. Feeling as though Brown would get to roam free to create nonstop chaos, Cobbs’ character eventually guns down Brown at the end of the movie as they both exit a courtroom. Cobbs, now 80, has worked consistently since New Jack City. He just completed Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.
