In a recent sit-down with The Art of Dialogue, actor Bokeem Woodbine took it back to 1997 when he shared the screen with Tupac Shakur and Lucy Liu in the cult classic film Gridlock’d. According to Woodbine, Pac wasn’t just focused on his role; he was also trying to shoot his shot at Liu during downtime on set.
Woodbine recalled Liu practicing with escrima sticks between scenes, something that immediately caught Tupac’s attention. “I just remember one day on set, Pac knocking on my trailer like, ‘Yo, man, what you doing?’ I’m like, ‘Just chilling.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, man. I just came back from Lucy’s room—I’m trying to spit game,’” Woodbine said with a laugh.
The actor explained that Liu didn’t seem to catch on to Pac’s flirting and instead thought he was genuinely interested in her escrima practice. “He was like, ‘Okay, maybe if I feign some interest in what she’s talking about, it’ll get me closer to sealing the deal,’” Woodbine recalled. “But when I asked him how it went, he just shook his head, like, ‘Nah, it didn’t work.’ I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it, man. You can’t win them all.’”
Woodbine suggested maybe Liu just wasn’t vibing with Pac in that way or perhaps the approach simply went over her head. Either way, the moment became a lighthearted memory that stuck with him over the years.
Lucy Liu herself reflected on working with Tupac in a 2023 interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, calling him “nice” and saying they had a “great time together” before his untimely passing.