He says nothing was specifically responsible for his detour, except disappointment with the roles offered him. And Mr. Tucker, who on Friday will begin his own cross-country comedy tour in preparation for what he says will be bigger things to come, is supremely confident that he can pick up exactly where he left off… “When I got to ‘Rush Hour,’ ” he said, “I felt like: O.K., I’ve proven myself as the pinnacle. Now where’s all the bigger movies?” Instead, he said, the parts he was offered were too similar to “Rush Hour” and “frankly, just weren’t good enough.” So Mr. Tucker said he simply sat it out, rather than accept projects to stay in the public eye. Mr. Tucker did not provide details about the film projects he was developing for himself and hoped to get into production later this year. Asked to name an actor whose career he wished to emulate, he immediately said Sidney Poitier, citing “The Defiant Ones” as a movie that “meant something.” “It was what was going on in real life,” Mr. Tucker said. “It’s social, real stuff, and I like movies like that.”

From a New York Times profile of Chris Tucker, posted earlier today, as he prepares to go on a comedy tour, answering a question that many keep asking – what happened to Chris Tucker?.

In the piece, you'll also learn about how F. Gary Gray had to fight for Tucker to get his Friday role over actors who were better known at the time, like, surprisingly Chris Rock and Tommy Davidson. That got an eyebrow raise from me – especially the Chris Rock part. Nah, Tucker made that flick his own. With these other two cats, I'm not so sure it's the same movie. But we'll never know now will we?

But good to know he held out and has been patient with the roles he took after he blew up, even if it meant not working for awhile. Though he certainly could afford to do so, given the huge checks he received in the latter installments of the Rush Hour franchise.

Although, one thing Chris refused to talk about with the NY Times is the reported $11 million in taxes he's said to owe.

Also good to know that he's developing his own projects, instead of having to choose from unattractive roles.

You can read the full piece HERE