Source: Coming 2 America / Rotimi
Prepare the royal jet. It’s almost time to return to the wonderful fictional nation of Zamunda. When we get there, we will be greeted by plenty of familiar faces, but for the highly anticipated sequel to the 1988 classic, Coming 2 America will feature some new faces bringing new energy.
In the film, newly-crowned King Akeem and his loyal servant and confidant, Semmi (Arsenio Hall), return to the land of Queens, NY, where he first found his bride, Lisa McDowell (Shari Headley), 30 years later. Akeem is not looking for love on this adventure but instead is on a mission to find his long-lost son Lavelle Junson (Jermaine Fowler). Akeem convinces his seed, born out of wedlock, to return home so he can groom him to be ready to carry on the Joffer lineage keeping the crown in the family and away from the hands of General Izzy (Wesley Snipes) from the nation of Nexdoria who is eager to take the throne from King Akeem and is well aware his father King Jaffer Joffer (James Earl Jones) is on his death bed.
CassiusLife had the opportunity to attend the royal press day and speak with Coming 2 America star Rotimi (Pretty Idi Izzi). We asked Rotimi what his reaction after learning that he had been cast in the film. Rotimi described it as an honor to be in the movie that is considered a classic in Black homes everywhere.
“It was surreal cause I knew what it represented to the culture. I knew what it represented to my family,” Rotimi, who plays General Izzy’s son in the film, begins. “Being first-generation Nigerian, I called my parents to say ‘yo I’m apart of something we have watched for 30 years.’ To be a part of something legendary, it’s no other feeling. It’s kind of speechless. But then it goes from speechless to ‘OH I gotta body this.’ Then it goes to ‘okay, be a sponge, be professional, and learn everything you can.’ It was just a domino effect of different feelings that is hard to explain because you know that it’s something that everyone in Hollywood would want to be a part of. Even if you don’t act, you’d want to be a part of it.”
We asked Rotimi about working with comedic legends like Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall. He revealed that Hall helped him get over being nervous quickly. Hall even told the singer that his song “Love Riddim” was one of his favorite songs.
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Rotimi even had a moment with Eddie Murphy himself, revealing that comedic great told him he was a “funny motherf*cker” after he was able to make him laugh.
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Rotimi, who is well known for his much more serious roles in Starz’s hit drama Power and films like Dueces, now gets a chance to show off his more comedic side in the film that his Instagram fans know well because of his insanely-popular Mr. Buttascotch skits. We asked the multifaceted star about tapping into his funny bone for the film.
“Well, you know I know I have a character on Instagram called Mr. Busttascotch,” he begins. “With Buttascotch, it was like touching the tip of the iceberg. Then now, being able to actually be a comedic actor on the big screen, it kind of just translated into that. It was a moment to realize, man, you just came from a drama that’s SUPER, SUPER DARK, and now you’re in one of the most legendary comedies. It was one of the moments to just feel like keep working, Ro. The sky is the limit for yourself.”
When asked how Mr. Buttascotch felt about not being invited to Zamunda, Rotimi hilariously brought the character out to say he doesn’t need Zamunda. Rotimi hopes to one day bring the character he created 4 years ago from Instagram timelines to the big screen, telling Cassius Life it’s time to bring the character to “the next level.”
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Up top, you can peep the rest of the interview where we got him to sing “She’s Your Queen To Be,” touch on the Zamundan drip designed by the legendary Ruth E. Carter, him being a fiancé, who he would have picked between Lisa and Patrice McDowell and more.
Coming 2 America premieres on Amazon Prime on March 5.
