At the film's recent junket in L.A., we were on-hand to listen to Cube as he dished on his latest big-screen character, comparing Friday to Sunday, and what he sees as the future of music on the Internet.

Ice Cube on why he liked the script for First Sunday:

"It worked, everything worked. As far as an actor, playing a role like this, doing something that’s a little touchy, robbing a church is not the smartest thing to do in the world as a character. But you saw his growth and you saw that the community is really affected by what the church does. The church has to reach out to the community and brothers like Durell and LeeJohn and t was funny as hell. But it did make that point, so David [E. Talbert] is dope when it comes to that."

Cube on his character, Durell:

"He feels like he doesn’t have options, because he’s kind of pushed into a corner. I don’t how many brothers who can come up with $17,000 in a day, you know what I mean? So he feels like he’s out of options, you know. Whenever you see a dude doing something like that, robbing a church or a little old lady, they got to be desperate to go that low. You never see what’s behind that. You never see why that dude did that. In this movie you get a chance to see why and you feel for Durell even though he’s doing the wrong thing."

On how the industry has changed since Boyz 'n the Hood:

"Enough hasn’t changed, but it’s probably changed here and there that goes unnoticed. I always looked at movies and looked at just people, because the people I grew up with, a lot of them did end up on the wrong side of the law. But they were some of my favorite people. Movies like Boyz 'n the Hood get to show behind the veil of what’s called a criminal, a thug, and get to show Dough Boy as a real person. This movie gets to show [that] LeeJohn and Durell are real people and not just people you can throw away. These aren’t people trying to be Scarface, these are dudes just trying to make it and that’s the story of a lot of dudes in our penitentiaries today that society has thrown away. But if you ask them, they just want a house, a wife , a couple of cars... you know, a comfortable living."

Ice Cube on taking on various roles, including a serial killer:

"Of course I want to do all kinds of movies, but it has to be good. These movies that I’ve done, I felt are movies that are good [and] movies that people want to see. As an entertainer, I kind of owe that to the audience [and] not just the star getting off on things that I want to do. You can get side tracked and lose the audience by always wanting to be different, so I’m looking for roles that are challenging, but they have to be good at the end of the day. I’m not going to do them just to do them."

On whether he gets the respect he deserves in Hollywood:

"I always feel like I get the respect I deserve. I don’t know how much a person can ask for, you know what I’m saying? Whether it’s printed all of the time... that part is a little bit irrelevant. But the fact that people love my work, fans, that’s who I’m really looking for to give me the pat on the back. It’s the people who spend the money, the people that I did it for. The industry does what it wants to do. I’m not really an industry kind of guy, so that don’t really turn me on either way."

Cube on how Friday and First Sunday are different:

"Well, Friday is all about the laughs. The story is cool, but [you] laugh at everything. Everything is a joke in a Friday movie. In this movie, this is a story that’s very funny but it’s mainly a story. It’s a Friday movie and a Barbershop movie mixed into one. Those comparisons are cool, but this is a different day of the week. On Sunday you have to act a little better than you do on Friday. [laughs]"

On the impact the film had on his religious convictions:

"I mean, to have more faith in the word and not as much in the people. Some people put too much faith in the messenger instead of putting all of the faith into the message, and that’s where everybody gets disappointed. That’s kind of what I came out of this movie with... the message is always good, the messengers are flawed, always."

On his movie career overshadowing his music:

"That’s fine, my music is niche. It ain’t for everybody. [laughs] A lot of the films are for everybody. I feel like I’ve had a long career, but I’ve still got a long career ahead of me. And you never know, the music may take precedent over the movies in the future. But for know, you got to play with the cards that were dealt."

Cube on what to do about music and the evolving Internet:

"You gotta roll with it. The Internet is here and it’s threatening to music. Not just my music, music period. People think music is free, kids think music is free, and nobody thinks they have to pay for it. So what’s going to happen in twenty-five years when people don’t see that there’s a way to make money in music and creative people do other things, and you won’t hear these voices and these creative people that we love. You’ll have all of these little electronic things to download music on, but nobody is doing any new music today, so we’re just regurgitating old music."

Ice Cube on watching an African American running for President:

"It’s a great time to see if the country is really ready to change. We’ve been given lip service about change and here it is right before you. Are we gonna take it? And not just the fact that he’s a black man running, he’s looking like the best man running. My question to Obama is, ‘What you gonna do for my mama?’"