Kevin who? He’s the biggest African-American star since Will and Denzel

HART. He’s no overnight success. Photo by Ruben Nepales

LOS ANGELES—Variety has just crowned Kevin Hart as “one of the biggest African-American stars since Will Smith and Denzel Washington.” The comedian-turned-leading man earned the appellation based on the box-office performance of “Ride Along” (which became 2014’s first movie to gross more than $100 million), “About Last Night” (which opened to solid figures last weekend) and the hit status of his comedy tours and their filmed versions, especially “Let Me Explain” and “Laugh at My Pain.”

Kevin, in our recent interview at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, was quick to dispel any impression that he’s an overnight success. “Nothing is sudden,” stressed the actor whom you may have seen in “Grudge Match” with Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, “Think Like A Man” and “The Five-Year Engagement.” He topbills “About Last Night” (an update of the 1986 hit that was adapted from David Mamet’s “Sexual Perversity in Chicago”), “The Wedding Ringer,” “Think Like a Man Too,” “Finally Famous,” “School Dance” and “Get Hard.”

“You are looking at 17-plus years in the business,” clarified the petite, 34-year-old thespian who stands 5’ 2” tall. (For once, we are taller than a Hollywood actor.) “The only thing that’s sudden is the attention of Hollywood. As a standup comedian, I found success about five years ago, in touring and building my fan base, and getting to the point where I could put movies theatrically myself, from ‘Laugh at My Pain’ to ‘Let Me Explain.’ These movies had great success in the box office. Hollywood then sees it as, oh wow, this guy is something.

“Personally, I don’t feed into it,” said the man who was a shoe salesman until he quit to try his luck as a standup comedian in his native Philadelphia. His success in clubs in Boston, Montreal, New York and LA led to film roles.

He pointed out, “I am a guy who has put a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears into his craft, and it’s coming full circle. When you work hard, you get great results.”

Standup comedy

Asked how early he realized that he could be funny, Kevin deadpanned, “Fresh out of the womb. I did five minutes as soon as I came out. I did five minutes on why this thing was around my neck and I had the doctor laughing on the floor. That’s when I knew that standup comedy was in my genes.

“When I was about 11 years old, we had a family reunion,” he recalled. “My cousin Kimberly and I did this whole speech, imitating our aunts, uncles and cousins. We put balloons on our pants and shirts, taking on the personalities of my family. They were laughing. That was the first time that I fell in love with the fact that I can make people laugh.”

On whether he saw Mamet’s play before shooting “About Last Night,” Kevin replied, “I would love to give you a big thespian speech on how I went and did all the research, knew about the play and studied the actors in it. I knew of the play, ‘Sexual Perversity in Chicago,’ but I just watched the movie with Rob Lowe, Demi Moore and Jim Belushi to be well-versed on where this idea came from. We weren’t trying to do what they did. We modernized it so people can relate to that.”

The Steve Pink-directed film, an ode to downtown Los Angeles which is experiencing a renaissance, also stars Michael Ealy, Joy Bryant, Regina Hall, Paula Patton and Christopher McDonald.

Modern world of dating

On the movie focusing on the modern world of dating—and some of its options (one-night stand or long-term relationship)—Kevin said, “You just find yourself in a situation that you didn’t expect to be in. That being said, I would say, keep an open mind to one-night stands. As for relationships, you’re probably talking to one of the worst people about the topic, me being a divorced man.” Kevin is separated from comedian Torrei Hart, with whom he has two children, Heaven Leigh and Hendrix.

“I’m in a more serious relationship now,” he volunteered. “In this film, we have a real perspective and approach to showing two sides to a relationship.”

Asked about his earliest relationship, Kevin smiled as he said, “My first relationship was when I was about 7, man. I was in love with my teacher. I am very serious. My teacher’s name was Ms Stevenson. When I was in elementary school, I was one of the best students ever, and it was because of Ms Stevenson. She made me want to do good.”

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