‘You Have to Grow Up First’: Nick Cannon Says Playing the ‘Corny’ Nerd In ‘Love Don’t Cost a Thing’ Interfered with Him Portraying ‘Manlier’ Roles In Other Films
Nick Cannon recently left fans shocked after revealing his dislike for his 2003 film, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing.”
The father of 12 recently sat down with Waka Flocka Flame and Desi Banks for a new episode of their “We Playin’ Spades” podcast, where he admitted he only watched the romantic comedy once.
“‘Love Don’t Cost a Thing,’ I’mma be honest I didn’t like that movie,” Cannon said at the 8:20 mark of the interview. “I’ve only seen the movie one time.”
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While explaining his reasoning for doing so, Cannon, 43, expressed that the timeline of him playing “the man” in 2002’s “Drumline” was overshadowed by his portrayal of the “corny” dude in “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” —— both of which have become cult classics within the Black community.
“I coulda kept playing like a-type you know strong roles but I chose to play like the lil’ corny, you know silly nerd dude,” he said. Cannon then suggested that if the timelines of the films were switched, it would have possibly benefited his career.
The “Wild ‘N Out” show creator added, “I felt like by doing ‘Love Don’t Cost a Thing’ after ‘Drumline’ it took a lot of the manlier roles away ’cause I was like a man in ‘Drumline.’ ”
A snippet of their conversation landed on @noironlineorg’s Instagram page where a few commenters didn’t appear to sympathize with Cannon’s message. A few individuals suggested that “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” didn’t strip the manliness from Cannon because he never had any to begin with.
A few said, “But you weren’t a man. You have to grow up first,” “He’s not manly,” and “Boy bye.” There were also comments that mentioned his brief time on the ‘90s comedy sketch show “All That.”
One user penned, “Sooooooo are we going to act like the Inconvenience store skit never happened on All That?” Another person wrote, “We gonna sit here and act like he wasn’t cross dressing on ALL THAT? Seriously?”
During an episode of the 10-season show, Cannon acted as a female worker alongside his co-star Kenan Thompson. In the skit, both men wore makeup, large updo hairstyles and long nails, and sported dresses. Thompson also appeared in “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” as one of Cannon’s fellow nerdy best friends.
Come Dec. 12, “Love Don’t Cost a Thing” will mark the 20th anniversary of its release. The Troy Byer-directed film also features Christina Milian, who played Cannon’s love interest as well as Steve Harvey as his father.