On the surface, Curren$y and Ken Jeong make an oddball pairing: one, a ganja-loving rapper with a N’awlins drawl and the other, a former doctor-turned-comedy’s golden man-child all from going balls out (pun intended) as Leslie Chow in The Hangover. As director Todd Phillip’s brings America’s forgettable love-affair with the Wolf pack to an end in Hangover III, VIBE initiates an unlikely bromance between Curren$y and Chow and plays third wheel as they trade lines about weed, wild nights and women.–Adelle Platon (@adelleplaton)
VIBE: Curren$y, when you first watched The Hangover, what was your first impression of Mr. Chow?
Curren$y: He was mean but he ended up being a cool guy. [He] was just a little distraught from taking a fucking ttrunk ride and I guess the first thing I would do is wield a fucking crowbar. What can you do? (To Ken Jeong) Homie, you’ve been in New Orleans. How long you been in my city, bruh?
Ken Jeong: I was in your city from ’94 to ’98. I did my residency at Oschner Hospital.
Curren$y: I wonder if I ever came in with an asthma attack. I had crazy asthma attacks. What kind of doctoring were you doing?
Jeong: I was in general practice for adults, so I did internal medicine.
Curren$y: As a doctor, where do you stand on marijuana?
Jeong: Well, there’s a nationwide trend in terms of medical marijuana coming into prominence right now. It’s definitely a hot button topic. I do know that in terms of medical treatment, it is indicated for certain cases of glaucoma and what have you.
Curren$y: As my friend now, could you write me like a doctor’s note if I miss a show, studio session or an appointment?
Jeong: (laughs) If I had my own practice.
Curren$y: From the movie set, you couldn’t just write me a script?
Jeong: From a movie set, I would get in trouble. We got a whole medical board.
Curren$y: Prior to meeting you, I was like, ‘Yo, me and homie are gonna get cool and I’m gonna get him to get me all kinda prescription drugs.’ They go crazy for cough syrup and shit like that and you know, doctors can get it!
Jeong: You know I’ve never actually written a prescription for a friend in the business. I actually have a clean record. What I’ve been available for medically is if someone’s got some symptoms. I’m more of a director of medical traffic.
VIBE: Now Ken, would you have any recommendations for treating a hangover? I’m sure Curren$y and many others could benefit from that.
Jeong: It’s all about hydration ’cause alcohol is diuretic so you’re gonna pee out a lot and get dehydrated.
Curren$y: Make sure you pee straight. Basically what you’re saying is to hydrate myself so if I wake up with a hangover, your advice would be…
Jeong:More water in that case.
Curren$y: That’s not what Chow would suggest.
Jeong: Oh, Chow would suggest more drinking. See if you’re talking Dr. Ken, Dr. Ken is going to get more conservative on you. ‘I won’t do this, I won’t do this, I won’t prescribe this, I don’t prescribe medical marijuana, I don’t do any of that stuff.’ Chow on the other hand, is the anti-Ken. Chow is the demon.
Curren$y: Now how do you like working with animals? You worked with a monkey. What type of monkey is that?
Jeong: I worked with a small Capuchin monkey, Crystal. She is nothing like her character. She’s like the sweetest thing in the world and I worked with her in other projects as well. Crystal and I have a lot in common. We play a lot of dangerous characters, but behind the scenes, we’re about as gentle and low-key as it gets. I think in order to play a hard character like me and Crystal do, you almost have to be soft behind the scenes in order to play a hard person.
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