‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’ Cast Reflects on Comedy With a Purpose

More than 10 years after the original film, a star-filled cast comes together to bring a story about a barbershop in southside Chicago to life.

The cast of Barbershop: The Next Cut, including Ice Cube, Regina Hall, Eve, Deon Cole, Sean Patrick Harris, Cedric the Entertainer, Common, Anthony Anderson, Margot Bingham, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Michael Rainey Jr., took to the red carpet at the TCL Chinese Theatre on Wednesday to celebrate the film’s premiere.

“We had a chance to be really good and really dynamic and different from the other two — [Barbershop 3] is hilarious with a heart,” director Malcolm D. Lee told The Hollywood Reporter. 

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Anderson discussed the positive impact barbershops had on him growing up with the strong implication of community. “A barbershop is a rite of passage for us as young men,” he said. “We go in there, we talk about things we didn’t feel comfortable telling our parents about.”

Common added that the pic has its serious moments, explaining how it goes beyond humor. “It’s a comedy, but it’s a story that has heart and with all the violence that’s going on in Chicago, and the gun violence that’s going on around America, it feels good to be part of a movie where families can go and feel some inspiration, feel some empowerment.”

The reigning topic of the evening was how audiences will react to the film’s outlook. “We wanted to do an authentic movie about the south side of Chicago, about a barbershop,” said the film’s producer Ice Cube. “You can’t do an authentic movie about a barbershop on the south side of Chicago without showing what’s really going on, and it was just perfect timing,”

Barbershop: The Next Cut is set to open April 15.