Q&A with Bernie Mac

The comic and Emmy Award-winning sitcom star, 45, is filming Mr. 3000, the story of a major leaguer who retires thinking he has 3,000 hits, only to return 10 years later when he learns he's still three hits short.

SI: Give us a preview of your character in Mr. 3000.

Bernie Mac. Richard Cartwright/Touchstone Pictures

Mac: Stan Ross is a very confident, over-the-top, self-centered, egotistical, arrogant son of a bitch. The only thing he cares about is himself. But he can swing the bat and he's got pizazz.

SI: This is your first film as a leading man. It must be a damn nice feeling.

Mac: You know what? You've been in the gym for so long that when it comes time to fight, you're ready. But with my life, I've always been in good shape. All this is nothing but a surplus for me. If I had this success happen to me earlier, I might be in a lot of trouble like some other cats. I appreciate it.

SI: DH -- For it or against it?

Mac: I've never been against it because I like to see a guy play. I like to see a guy hit. Without the DH, you'd take Edgar Martinez out of baseball. He's a tremendous hitter and I think it kind of favors the National League pitchers because American League pitchers have to work harder. They have to face a Martinez or a Frank Thomas. But I also like to see the pitchers bat because it makes for a whole different ballgame.

SI: Cubs or White Sox?

Mac: I'm a White Sox fan, but they will never do anything as long as Jerry Manuel is the manager, and that's no disrespect. I just mean he cannot motivate the players the way he should.

SI: OK, so you're Jerry Reinsdorf. Who would you hire as manager?

Mac: I like Jeff Torborg. I think he was a good manager.

SI: Hall of Fame or not for Pete Rose?

Mac: Hall of Fame. But he won't even be allowed to coach Little League. You're talking about his game and everybody's playing God. I don't think any of us qualifies for that. He gambled and things like that, I think that's a given. Everybody knows that, but you can't deny him his game. Pete Rose was tenacious. I can't take his game away.

SI: Should the All-Star Game determine home field in the World Series?

Mac: It's [an] awful [idea]. All those "experts" need their asses whipped. These baseball owners left their ballclubs to their sons who are chemists, and now they're making these old, square decisions. I was very disappointed with the new format, much the same way I was disappointed with the NBA when it changed [the length of] the first round of the playoffs practically a week before the season was over.

SI: Are people born funny -- or can you become funny?

Mac: You have to be born funny.

SI: Have you gotten funnier as you've gotten older?

Mac: I think I've realized what's funny as I've gotten older. I think I'm mature enough that I can laugh at myself and laugh at my woes. I understand my audience and what makes it laugh.

SI: Who's the funniest athlete you have come across?

Mac: Bo Jackson. Bo Jackson is funny [laughs]. Off the field he's the funniest cat in the world because you don't expect it from him. His point of view is his best-kept secret. He only shares it with you if he knows you or if he feels comfortable with you. By him not trying to be funny, he's funny. When I'm around Bo, he makes me laugh. Now John Salley, he wants to be funny. But he's funny bad. tha

SI: Of the actors you've worked with, who is the best athlete?

Mac: Probably Will Smith because he's in better in shape than most actors.

SI: What athletes have you hung around with?

Mac: I'm acquaintances with a lot of guys -- Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Sam [Sosa] -- but my true friends in my life are guys I've known since I was 8. My career started taking off when I was in my late 30s and my life was already established. My wife has been with me 27 years and my staff has been with me for more than 20 years. I'm not a club cat and I don't have a lot of vices.

SI: You grew up in Chicago. What's it like being a fan of Chicago sports teams?

Mac: We're disappointed. The Bears? One Super Bowl, 1986. How in the hell you win only one championship with that team? Chicago sports beat us down. I'll give you an example. How the hell do the Bulls get rid of Jordan, Pippen, Phil Jackson and Horace Grant, a championship team that dominated the 1990s? In Chicago, we're suckers.

SI: What is the best baseball movie ever made?

Mac: Mr. 3000 [laughs].

--Richard Deitsch

Issue date: July 28, 2003

 

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