O’Shea Jackson Jr. Proudly Identifies as a Nepo Baby: It’s a ‘Badge of Honor’
O’Shea Jackson Jr. is most proud of his “junior” status as Ice Cube’s son.
Jackson, who played his own father in N.W.A. biopic “Straight Outta Compton,” recently reflected on his nepo baby status. “If I were to run away from that or shy away from it in any way, in my eyes that’s disrespectful to everything he had to go through,” Jackson said during “The Kelly Clarkson Show” of his dad. “He didn’t work as hard as he did for me to not accept and appreciate it,”
The “Ingrid Goes West” actor called the label a “badge of honor” since he is “forever grateful for everything that my dad had to do to give me the opportunities that I have.”
“A lot of people, when they see me, naturally [they say], ‘Hey, you’re Ice Cube’s son,'” the “Cocaine Bear” star added. “You’re damn right I am, 100 percent, that’s my hero. That’s my coach. At the same time, the door can be open but you’ve got to walk through.”
Jackson noted that the downside of being a nepo baby is the assumption of entitlement.
“I have a lot of people, they have an idea of what I’m going to be before I get to any set because of their idea of what my dad is,” Jackson said. “They think I’m coming to set feeling entitled, or I feel like I need to have ‘a posse’ of 15-20 people with me, straight rap stuff. But no, I’m here to work. I pride myself on my professionalism.”
Jackson tweeted in December 2022 that he spent two years auditioning to play Ice Cube in 2015 film “Straight Outta Compton” and that Ice Cube did not “hold my hand through my career.”
“I had to get my ass up and make it work,” he wrote. “From the roles I chose. The work ethic I put into them. My professionalism on sets and promo tours. Even leaving HIS agency and goin to find a team of my own. Once the door was opened it was up to me to walk through it and thrive. But none of that. NONE. OF. THAT. Happens that way without the love of my father. The work he put in to get us to a place of opportunity. And for me to ignore that or not accept and use as a guide would be foolish and disrespectful. I am grateful and I use his teachings daily.”
My dad told me in a perfect world, I would play him in straight outta compton. I was already in college for screenwriting at USC. I accepted the challenge. And auditioned for two years before getting the role. After that it was up to me, he couldn’t hold my hand through my career
— O’Shea Jack(Nichol)son (@OsheaJacksonJr) December 20, 2022