When you think about the wildest performances in 90s cinema, your brain probably goes straight to that high-pitched, motor-mouthed radio host in a leopard-print catsuit. Chris Tucker as Ruby Rhod in The Fifth Element wasn't just a supporting role; it was a cultural flashpoint. Honestly, the movie is already a psychedelic fever dream of flying taxis and blue opera-singing aliens, but then Tucker enters the frame and somehow makes everything else look normal.
It’s been decades since the film dropped in 1997, yet the character remains a staple of internet memes and legendary cosplay. But there is a massive backstory to how this character came to be, involving a legendary pop star, a hilarious language barrier, and a level of improv that nearly broke the production.
The Prince Connection: What Almost Happened
Believe it or not, Luc Besson didn’t write the role for Chris Tucker. He wrote it for Prince. Yeah, the Prince.
If you look at the character's DNA—the gender-bending fashion, the sexual magnetism, the sheer flamboyant authority—it screams the Purple One. Prince actually met with Besson and the legendary costume designer Jean Paul Gaultier to discuss the part. However, things went south in the most hilarious way possible.
Gaultier, being French, was showing Prince his sketches. One specific design featured a "faux cul"—basically a fake butt piece. Gaultier kept saying "faux cul" with a thick French accent. Prince, apparently horrified, thought Gaultier was repeatedly saying "f*** you" to him. Between that misunderstanding and Prince finding the designs "too effeminate" (ironic, right?), he walked.
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Prince’s loss was Chris Tucker's gain.
How Chris Tucker Reimagined Ruby Rhod
When Tucker stepped in, he didn't try to be Prince. He brought that frantic, "Friday"-era energy but dialed it up to an eleven. Basically, he turned Ruby into a proto-influencer before the term even existed.
The Auditory Assault
The voice is the first thing that hits you. It’s piercing. Tucker decided to play the character like a man who is constantly "on the air," even when he’s terrified for his life. He isn't just talking; he's performing for a galaxy that isn't there.
Pure Physical Comedy
The way Tucker moves in those Gaultier outfits is a masterclass in physical acting. He’s slinking around Bruce Willis’s Korben Dallas like a caffeinated feline. The contrast between Willis’s "exhausted 90s action hero" and Tucker’s "human glitter bomb" is what makes the second half of the movie actually work.
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Super Green: The Improv and the Impact
"Super green!"
Everyone knows the line. It’s become shorthand for "everything is cool," but at the time, it was just part of the weird, neon-soaked vernacular Tucker was building on the fly. Luc Besson reportedly gave Tucker a lot of leash to improvise his reactions. When you see Ruby Rhod screaming as Mangalores shoot up the Fhloston Paradise, half of that fear feels genuinely unhinged.
The character was polarizing back then. Some critics found him grating or "too much." But looking back through a 2026 lens, we see something else. Ruby Rhod was a black man in a massive sci-fi blockbuster who was allowed to be flamboyant, vulnerable, sexually fluid, and—crucially—heroic in his own panicked way. He didn't have to be the "tough guy" to survive the movie.
Why It Ranks as a Masterpiece
- Subversion of Masculinity: In an era of Stallone and Schwarzenegger, Ruby Rhod was a radical departure.
- Visual Iconography: The bleach-blonde cylinder hair and the rose-covered tuxedo are top-tier cinema fashion.
- The "Bzzzzt" Factor: Tucker created a whole language of sounds that fans still mimic today.
What You Can Take Away From Ruby’s Energy
If we're being real, we can all learn a little something from the sheer audacity of Chris Tucker's performance. He took a role that could have been a forgettable sidekick and turned it into the most talked-about part of a $90 million movie.
Own your "too much-ness." In a world that often wants people to blend in, Ruby Rhod is the ultimate argument for standing out. Whether you’re a creator or just someone trying to make a mark at work, there’s value in being "Super Green."
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If you’re revisiting The Fifth Element soon, pay attention to the scene where the Diva is singing. Watch Tucker’s face. He isn't even speaking, but he’s doing more with his eyes and his posture than most actors do with a ten-minute monologue. That’s the genius of the Rhod.
To really appreciate the craft, try watching his scenes on mute. You'll see a performance that is basically a silent-era clown movie wrapped in a 23rd-century space opera. It’s singular. It’s weird. And honestly, it’s why we’re still talking about it thirty years later.
To get the most out of your next rewatch, try to spot the moment where Bruce Willis almost breaks character during Tucker's first long-winded introduction—it's a tiny glimpse of just how much energy Tucker was actually throwing at his co-stars on set.