Vanilla Ice remembers making ‘Cool as Ice’ and watching the movie with Madonna

Ethan Alter interviews Vanilla Ice about his 1991 movie Cool As Ice. They talk about the movie's one-liners, his impressive motorcycle stunts in it and Gwynneth Paltrow's audition to be the female lead in the film. They also discuss Vanilla Ice's relationship with Madonna in the '90s.

Video Transcript

- Oh yeah, Kat? Words of wisdom. Drop that zero and get with the hero.

ETHAN ALTER: Well, let's start talking about how "Cool as Ice" happened. When was it presented to you? How was it presented to you, this movie?

VANILLA ICE: Well, my first debut was the Ninja Turtles. And still the highlight of my life. (LAUGHING) It sounds hilarious, but I am a huge Ninja Turtle fanatic. I got tattoos everywhere, you know. "Cool as Ice" came out shortly after that. I did the Ninja Turtles, but it was an impact about that time that went around the world. And it's amazing how people even remember back that far to go into "Cool as Ice," and all the one liners, and-- just such an epic time.

- (SINGING) Drop it.

VANILLA ICE: I got a call from the producers. And they just said, hey, we're going to do a movie for you. And I said, let me read the script. And I was like, this is awesome. Motorcycles, girls, come on, let's go. That was all I needed to see.

I became an Elvis Presley fan because-- he was way before my time-- but I became a fan through his movies. So when I saw "Cool as Ice" to kind of have that, get the girl, get in the fight, and that whole thing, I felt like, ah! This is almost like one of those Elvis movies, man. (LAUGHING) It's great.

ETHAN ALTER: I love that you came up with so much of the dialogue yourself. Like, "Drop that zero and get with the hero." That's the immortal line. How did that all come about?

VANILLA ICE: Well, that was really funny, because it was never in the script. And I threw it out as we were filming. Every single time, I would ad lib and throw different things in there.

- See you later, dick.

- It's Nick.

VANILLA ICE: I didn't know what they were going to use until I watched the movie. And I'm like, oh my god! They used all my lines!

- Straight up fact.

ETHAN ALTER: I understand Gwyneth Paltrow almost played the love interest in the movie. Were you sad she wasn't cast in the movie, ultimately?

VANILLA ICE: No, I didn't even know who she was back then. This was before she made any big movies. I didn't know Gwyneth Paltrow from anybody. I met her back then. And then later, I was like, oh, that's the girl that was auditioning for the movie. She has amazing talent. You know? That's why she went on to become a big superstar like she is.

ETHAN ALTER: I thought Kristen Minter, who does play the love interest, she's really good. You two bounce off each other really well.

VANILLA ICE: She acted her ass off. She was really good. Like, I was like, are you for real? I got a girlfriend, man! And I mean, I was really thinking like, she was coming on to me. And then all of a sudden, we would stop. And I was like, oh, it was acting. OK. Geez. I was really feeling that. You know?

Like, we were having a moment. It got a little sexual there with the ice scene, when I was melting the ice in her mouth, dripping it, waking her up when I snuck in her window. Yeah. I love the sexual aspect of it. But the good acting brings out the best of you. For sure.

ETHAN ALTER: I love that you were fooled. That she fooled you into thinking, oh, is she coming on to me? No, it's just acting.

VANILLA ICE: And Gwyneth too, man. She for really had me going. Camera would stop, and everything's like, hey, Rob.

ETHAN ALTER: Well, let's talk about some of the music in the movie, too. Because the music, obviously, is another great part of it. And starting with the opening "Cool as Ice" song, with Naomi Campbell in it. You had Naomi Campbell in that scene. How did you get her at a very early point in her career?

VANILLA ICE: Well, she's awesome. And she was a legend, and you know, obviously, a gigantic supermodel. She kind of came in there like that whole James Bond figure to me. And I was just like, this is awesome. Because she was really tall. And I'm tall. I'm 6' 3". She was looking at me. And I was like, man, this is great. And she was hot. Supermodel. Just badass.

And I'd already made the song. And we hired a lady who could sing with Gail Scott King and I in the studio. So we had already finished the song, and it was awesome. So we were like, man, you know what? Why don't we get Naomi Campbell to re-sing this and be a part of the song as well?

And then Naomi Campbell-- wooo! Sings and just busts out into the scene, man. And that's like, what? Naomi Campbell can sing? Yeah, she can sing, man. That was, I think, her first singing debut. I don't know. But she did it. She pulled it off. It was great.

- Is that your bike out front?

- Tommy!

- Yeah, you ever been on one?

ETHAN ALTER: That is your motorcycle in the movie. Right? You're actually riding your motor. So tell me about that and being able to show off your motorcycle.

VANILLA ICE: Well, I raced motocross my whole life, man. I've been since I was eight years old, and still racing, actually. Can't give it up, man. But when they said the aspect of the motorcycle being in the movie, I was like, oh, this is great. And then I saw the scene when I was reading through the script. And I asked him, where are you going to do this, like, love scene, slow song thing at? And then he said, we're going to do this on the salt flats.

And I go, salt flats? Are we bringing the bike? And they go, oh yeah. And I go, can I top it out? And they're like, OK. First off, they really didn't know how skilled I was on a motorcycle, coming into the movie. And as the talent, you have all, you know, probably 400 pages of insurance policy on your lead star of the movie. I look at the stunt guy. No problem. He just didn't have the skills. You know?

I'm sorry, bro. I get you. And I know you'll probably crash, and you know how to roll, and do all that. But let me show you how to ride that, real quick. Put my helmet on. My boots. And I jumped it, probably six, seven times further than he did. I mean, I could have done a Nac-Nac, Superman, Fender Grab, if I wanted to. But I just jumped the fence. And they were like, oh! That was way better! Can you jump the car now? Yeah, I'll jump the car.

So I jumped the car. I jumped the fence, over to the horse. And I got to do over 200 miles an hour on my bike, on the salt flats, making a love scene. He thought I'd say that.

- (SINGING) Heartfelt emotions and desire. I'm on fire.

ETHAN ALTER: And I love that you get that love ballad in the movie, "Never Want to Be Without You," which is like a real love ballad. And different from the other stuff. Were you happy to do something like that, to show off a different side of yourself?

VANILLA ICE: You know, I'm not a big fan of them slow songs and stuff. That's more of the corporate side, and them suit-and-ties people. Me, I'm OK with it. But it's a little softer side. I'm more of a, a sexual guy. So when it comes to the slow songs, they're more about Charles Koppelman, the owner of my record label, going, hey. Here. We need this song.

And just help us do this for the movie. It'll fit this. We need to slow it down a little bit. We got all the hip hop dance and everything. So we need to make the love scene, but we need a song from you. Elvis did it, so we need you to do it. And I said, Elvis did it? OK. I'm doing it.

- (SINGING) Closer than most. And every glass, I'm gonna raise a toast.

ETHAN ALTER: Coming up next year, 1992, there's the anniversary of that Madonna book, "Sex," that you were in. I know you had been in a relationship with her for a little while. You were in there. What was that experience like, being part of that whole part of her career?

VANILLA ICE: Oh, she's a superstar. She's awesome, on the note, as far as like, what the public sees and everything. She's amazing. As a person, she's a person. And that's the difference. She was great. We dated almost two years. She actually proposed to me. It was hilarious, man. I was like-- I never had-- I'm too young for that, I said. I think I'm just getting going here.

You know, I'm just revving up. I'm sorry, but it ain't like that with me. But she was a sweetheart. And we had such a great time. And I think she loved, just-- kind of like me now. Like being the oldest teenager in town. I remember she was making-- what movie was it? "A League of Their Own"?

Remember that movie? And I went out there and lived with her for that whole making of that. And we just hung out. I think it was in Evansville, Indiana, or something. It was great, man. We had fun. Everywhere we went. And we would go just the two of us. And it was funny, because we had disguises. So you'd never know it, but we were in public with everybody. We went shopping at the malls, we ate at Chili's and Waffle House.

I had a mustache and like, this crazy wig, and some glasses. And we would go to the movies and stuff. People did notice us. I remember she didn't like to be noticed. And I didn't care. And she didn't like it that I didn't care. And if they asked her for an autograph, she would say no.

And the same person would come to me, and I said yes, no problem. And she would get so mad at me for that. So mad at me. She's like, how dare you undermine me? And ah, blah, blah! And I had to let her know. I was like, hey, that fan, you'll never see him again. They're going to tell that story nine million times over the rest of their lives, man.

Make it a good moment for him. But they're interrupting my food! I said, you came here. You're a celebrity. Sign that autograph. Spit the food out. Get up and take a picture. Shake a hand, and make a friend. And I think it kind of helped her public relations after that.

ETHAN ALTER: Did she see "Cool as Ice"? Did you guys watch it together?

VANILLA ICE: Absolutely! She loved it, man. She was at my concerts. She would come out there and dance. She loved it.

- That's all you wanted, why did you dance with me?

- To show you I could.